Twilight Meets Harry Potter
by JustAnotherMember
Summary: The Cullens go to Hogwarts to protect Harry. Inspired by the first few chapters of EdwardCullen4President's story, A Magical Experience. T for mild swearing and sexual references. All canon relationships.
1. Introduction

**Twilight Meets Harry Potter**

This is my own version of EdwardCullen4President's story, A Magical Experience. Hehe…a fanfiction of a fanfiction, sorta. I have written my own chapter five onwards.

I recommend that you read EC4prez's story first, at least the first four chapters. It's really good and will help you understand what's going on.

Just some notes if you don't read A Magical Experience first.

*Dumbledore has asked the Cullens to go to Hogwarts as students (Carlisle and Esme will be teachers) to help protect Harry.

*This is set about ten years after BD and during OOTP.

*Harry, Ron, and Hermione are already suspicious of the Cullens. All the member of the Order of the Phoenix know about them.

*They are putting the story out that Edward and Renesmee are brother and sister, Masens. Emmett and Alice are brother and sister (Cullens) and Jacob is their cousin, also a Cullen. Jasper and Rosalie are the Hale twins like always. Bella isn't related to any of them, she is still a Swan. They are all adopted by Carlisle and Esme.

*Most spells don't work on the vampires. The Unforgivable Curses are the only ones that do. The Cruciatus Curse is like Jane's power. The Killing Curse temporarily cuts out their senses (sort of like Alec's power) so they die for a couple of minutes.

*All normal relationships!!


	2. 5 Diagon Alley

**Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight or Harry Potter. Technically, I don't even own this fanfic! **

**5. Diagon Alley**

**BPOV**

All the Hogwarts students, including us Cullens, each received a letter from the school with the list of books and supplies we would need.

Alice danced into the room where I was standing with Edward, Harry, Ron, Fred, and George, waving her letter around dramatically. She was quickly followed by Jasper.

"Ugh!" she exclaimed. "With all these books I won't have _any_ room left in my suitcase for my clothes! What a nightmare!"

"Oh, well, Alice," chuckled Edward, "I suppose you can't take your whole wardrobe everywhere."

Alice slipped on a heartbroken expression and I had to reassure her.

"I might have some room left in my suitcase after we've bought everything."

Her expression lit up at once. "Oh really? Thankyou, thankyou, Bella! You're the best sister I could ever have asked for!"

"Like this wasn't your plan all along!" I grinned as she hugged me.

Alice laughed. "I _might_ have seen that you'd be able to help," she said quietly, "Oh, and by the way, things are about to get pretty hyper in here!"

"Huh?" I asked, but she just nodded toward Ron. He was staring at his letter as though in shock.

I looked up at Edward and lifted my shield. _What's wrong with him?_

Edward just laughed and shook his head.

Fred was reading the letter over his brother's shoulder and his mouth dropped open. "Prefect?"

George and Harry stared in disbelief.

Alice giggled. "Congratulations! I had a feeling you'd get it!"

The twins seemed to disagree. It appeared that Harry would've been their first choice for the title. After they got over their surprise, they started teasing poor Ron. Yep, they were definitely Emmett split in two.

Barely a minute later, Hermione rushed into the room with excitement. She was also a new prefect and, like the twins, found the news about Ron hard to believe.

When Mrs Weasley came into the room, muttering about the shopping to do, George was the one to break the news. Then the squealing and hugging started. Ron's face went so red that I groaned and looked away.

Jasper saved Ron from the overexcited woman by sending calming waves in her direction. She eventually calmed down enough to start offering Ron rewards. They finally settled on a broom; huh? What was that about? Ron had never seemed interested in cleaning in the couple of days I'd known him.

"I want you all downstairs and ready to go to Diagon Alley in five minutes!" said Mrs Weasley as she left the room.

"Ooh!" squealed Alice. "Wizard shopping! I can't wait! C'mon Jazz!"

She grabbed Jasper's hand and skipped out of the room. The Weasley twins left after them, disappearing with a loud crack.

Ron was staring at the open door with a funny look on his face.

"Is your sister always like that?" he asked Edward.

"Like what? The mascot for Red Bull?"

Ron didn't seem to know what Red Bull was, but Harry and Hermione laughed.

"Yep, that's Alice."

"Oh," said Ron, "well, she's rather," he tried to find the right word, "cute."

I snorted. "That's one way of putting it. Just don't let Jasper hear you say that."

Ron looked disappointed. "Are they together too?"

Edward nodded and wrapped an arm around my waist. "We all are."

He pulled me downstairs, laughing softly.

"Poor kid," I sighed.

"I have to disagree," said Edward, "You didn't hear what he was thinking about you."

"Me?" I asked.

"Yes. Although I can't really blame him. You _are_ very beautiful, love."

I stopped halfway down the stairs to kiss him. "So are you. Is there anyone I should be worried about?"

Edward shrugged. "Hermione's thoughts were jealous when Ron complimented Alice, and Ginny has a thing for Harry. No need for worry."

"Are you sure?"

Edward chuckled. "You are absolutely adorable when you're jealous!" he said and kissed me again.

We were interrupted by a loud retching sound.

"Shut up, Emmett!" I mumbled while Edward growled.

"I would love to, dear sister, but I'm not the only one you're grossing out."

I looked up to see Emmett, Rose, Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny watching us. The four humans looked rather embarrassed, but Emmett and Rose just looked annoyed. I scowled at them for interrupting us.

"You don't have to watch," I grumbled and reached up to kiss Edward again.

He kissed me back for a second before gently pushing me away. "The others are waiting for us downstairs," he told me. I reluctantly let him pull me to the living room, where Mrs Weasley and Esme were waiting by the fireplace.

"Are we travelling by Floo Powder again?" I asked.

Esme nodded, but before she could say anything, Alice bounded over to me.

"Oh, Bella, aren't you excited?" she crowed, "Wizard shopping! Isn't this going to be so much fun?"

"Yeah, fun," I agreed without enthusiasm.

"That's the spirit!" laughed Alice. She turned her attention to Hermione and Ginny. "You two have to show us everything! It can be like a girl's day out, right Rose? Nessie?"

My daughter and other sister nodded excitedly.

"What does that leave for us to do?" demanded Edward.

Alice looked thoughtful. "I'm sure we can find some use for you."

The boys all groaned at once.

"Be afraid," muttered Emmett darkly to Harry and Ron.

"That's enough talk," said Mrs Weasley, "Fred? Do you want to go first?"

She held out the pot of Floo Powder and Fred stepped into the fireplace with a handful.

"Diagon Alley!" he shouted, and disappeared. George went next, then me and Edward. I was nervous again as I stood in the fire. It went against all of my instincts to just stand there while the flames licked at my feet. Fire was, after all, a vampire's worst enemy, apart from werewolves. Then different fireplaces were flashing in front of us.

We came out in a small shop where Fred and George were already waiting for us. We were soon joined by everyone else.

"Whoo!" exclaimed Emmett, "I feel like Santa Claus!" He swept Rosalie up into his arms. "Ho! Ho! Ho! What would you like for Christmas, beautiful?"

Rosalie slapped his arm and glared at him until he put her down.

"Let's go!" said Mrs Weasley, and led us out of the shop.

The first thing I noticed were the scents. Apart from hundreds of humans, there were also strange, unfamiliar scents of creatures I didn't recognise. Looking around at the rest of my family, I saw they all wore similar expressions of wonder.

Alice jumped onto the cobbled street. "Oh, wow! This is so cool! Where do we go first?"

Mrs Weasley pointed at a huge building at the end of the street. "Gringott's Bank."

"Carlisle has an account there for all the wizard money he has collected over the years," Esme told her family.

Alice was already dancing down the road and we hurried to follow her.

Since there were so many of us, Mrs Weasley and Esme went into the bank while everyone else waited outside. I noticed one of the strange scents was stronger here. Curious, I asked Hermione about the bank. She seemed to know everything.

"It's run by goblins and is one of the safest places in the world. Some of the vaults are even guarded by dragons."

"Dragons?" repeated Emmett, "Oh. My. God. Rose, did you hear that?"

Rosalie could tell what he was thinking. "No, Emmett, you are _not_ getting a dragon!"

"But it would be so cool! I could even teach it to do tricks and everything!"

"Dragons breathe fire, Em," Edward reminded him.

Emmett blinked. "And?"

Everyone stared at him. Only Jacob seemed to like the idea.

"Let him get one! I would love to see him as a pile of ashes!"

Renesmee elbowed him. "Don't be mean!"

"I didn't mean it!" said Jacob quickly.

"It's illegal to own a dragon, anyway," said Hermione.

Emmett's face fell in disappointment. Rosalie looked relieved.

Harry laughed. "You remind me of a friend of ours. He's got a thing for dangerous creatures, too."

"Who said anything about dangerous creatures?" demanded Emmett.

"I think dragons might fall under that category," I suggested.

"I would know," added Harry, "I had to fight one last year."

Emmett sighed enviously. "You got to fight a dragon? See, Rose? He got to, why can't I?"

"Trust me; you don't want to," muttered Harry.

"Actually, I think he does," I replied.

"What does he want to do?" asked Esme, appearing behind us with Mrs Weasley.

"Emmett wants to fight a dragon!" piped up Alice cheerfully.

"Why am I not surprised?" smiled Esme fondly. She started handing out pouches full of coins to her family. "You don't all need to go together, but you ought to stay in groups. We'll meet you back at the pub called the Leaky Cauldron in three hours. Oh, and Alice, dear, please don't go overboard, okay?"

Alice rolled her eyes. "Hello? We're shopping! There's no such thing as going overboard!"

I decided I would stay with Edward rather than Alice. We split into two groups; Edward, Emmett, Harry, Ron, Fred, George, and me; and Alice, Rosalie, Jacob, Renesmee, Jasper, Hermione and Ginny. Mrs Weasley and Esme went off on their own so as to not get in our way.

We already had wands, so we passed Ollivander's and went straight to _Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions_ for our school robes. Madam Malkin's eyes widened when she saw how big Emmett was, and the measuring tape shook in her hands.

The next shop was _Fluorish and Blott's_; a bookshop. The most interesting thing that happened in there was the purchasing of the _Monster Book of Monsters_, a book that had to be bound with rope to stop it snapping at our hands. Emmett and the Weasley twins set a dozen copies loose and the store was abruptly filled with shrieking customers. Edward and I made sure to keep an eye on Emmett and the twins after that.

We also had to buy a Potions kit each. I wrinkled up my nose against the stink in the apothecary and was glad to leave ten minutes later. The scent of potion ingredients was strong and very unpleasant.

"Is that everything?" I asked, checking items off my list.

"That's everything," Edward confirmed, "What do you want to do now?"

Ron spoke up. "I'm going to find a new broom!"

Again with the broom. I honestly didn't get it.

Ron led us to a shop called _Quality Quidditch Supplies_, whatever the hell that meant. It was Emmett who asked the question.

"What's Quidditch?"

Harry, Ron, Fred and George looked annoyed, as if this was something we should know.

"It's a sport," replied Ron, "We play it on broomsticks. Fred, George and Harry are all on the Gryffindor team at Hogwarts."

Oh, broomsticks. As in _flying_ broomsticks; that made more sense.

"Sounds cool," I commented.

"'Cool' is a bit of an understatement."

I took it that these wizards were very passionate about their Quidditch.

Ron found a broom he liked – a Cleansweep Seven – and spent the rest of the afternoon admiring it while Harry explained to us about Quidditch. I was only half listening; Edward was playing with my hair and I found it very distracting.

We went into the Leaky Cauldron to wait for the others. Everyone in the pub seemed to know who Harry was and started whispering behind their hands. Harry tensed up in anger and Edward growled softly.

Esme and Mrs Weasley were already sitting at one of the tables when we arrived, but we had to wait a while for Alice's group. When they finally came in, we could barely see poor Jacob and Jasper underneath the mountain of shopping bags.

"Um, Alice," I muttered, "I don't think I'll have _that_ much room left in my case."

Alice placed a reassuring hand on my shoulder and said, very seriously, "We'll find a way, Bella."

**HerPOV**

Okay, so the Cullens aren't too bad, even if I'm right and they _are_ vampires. Alice seems nice enough, if a bit weird. After we finished packing for Hogwarts this afternoon she insisted on giving me and Ginny makeovers. She didn't do a bad job, either.

I was in our room, packing a few small items I'd forgotten when there was a knock on the door.

"Hermione?" asked Mrs Weasley, poking her head into the room, "Professor Dumbledore is downstairs. He would like a word with you."

Dumbledore? What would he want with me? I felt Ginny's curious eyes on me.

"Um, sure. Coming."

I followed Mrs Weasley to the kitchen where Dumbledore was seated at the table with the Cullens.

"Ah, Miss Granger!" said Dumbledore as I entered the room. "How are you this lovely evening?"

"I'm good, sir," I replied slowly, wondering what was going on.

"Excellent! Please, take a seat." He gestured to an empty chair between himself and Alice, which I took. Alice gave me a friendly smile, but I was too confused to return it.

"Now, Miss Granger, I would like to speak with you about the Cullens here. I believe you have your suspicions about them."

"Oh." I felt my cheeks turn pink. How did Dumbledore know? Harry or Ron probably told him. Oh, God, what must the Cullens think of me talking about them behind their backs?

Edward suddenly chuckled. "Don't worry, Hermione! We don't think badly of you!"

My thoughts must've been pretty obvious on my face. I blushed darker. "I'm sorry."

"I didn't summon you down here for you to apologise, Miss Granger," smiled Dumbledore, "I brought you here to confirm your theory."

Oh. My. God. "I was right?" I squeaked, "They really are…" I couldn't say the word.

"Vampires?" finished Edward, "Yes, we are."

"Except for the dog," muttered Rosalie, who was seated beside Jacob and had her nose wrinkled up.

Jacob rolled his eyes. "I'm a werew – I mean, a shape-shifter. I can transform into a giant wolf."

Well that was okay; I already knew people like that.

"Oh, and Renesmee's only half-vampire," added Bella, smiling gently.

I stared at them all. How could Dumbledore allow this? Vampires are dangerous! They kill people and drink their blood! I felt myself panicking as it hit me that I was in a room surrounded by vampires. Were they going to kill me now that I knew their secret?

Jasper reached past Alice towards me. I tried to flinch away when he placed an ice-cold hand on my shoulder, but he held me tight.

"Relax, Hermione," he told me quietly, and for some reason, I found it impossible not to. I suddenly felt very calm despite the situation I was in.

"You don't need to be afraid of us, sweetheart," said Esme gently, "We aren't going to hurt you."

"You…you aren't?" I stuttered.

"We're vegetarians," Carlisle reassured me.

Okay…vegetarian vampires? That makes no sense whatsoever.

"We don't hunt humans," explained Alice, "only animals."

Huh, I get it. Vampires with a sense of humour. That's different.

"Different?" laughed Edward, "You have no idea."

I stared at him. Did he just read my mind?

"Yep. I can hear people's thoughts." He tapped his head with a smile.

"Wow," I muttered.

"You think that's cool?" asked Alice, "I can see the future!"

"I can control emotions," said Jasper. That explains how I calmed down so quickly.

"I have a shield over my mind," mumbled Bella.

"I can do the opposite of Dad, I mean, Edward," grinned Renesmee, "I project thoughts into other minds."

Woah! Did she just say Edward was her dad?

"Renesmee is mine and Bella's daughter," Edward explained, hearing my thoughts, "Bella had her while she was still human."

"But what are you all doing here?" I asked.

"I have asked them to pose as students, or, in Carlisle and Esme's case, teachers, at Hogwarts to help protect the school," replied Dumbledore, "Which, incidentally, is one of the things we miust speak with you about. Who have you told about the Cullens?"

"Just Harry and Ron," I told him.

"I was hoping you would say that. I ask you to please not tell anyone else. It can be very dangerous for the Cullens if their secret reaches the wrong ears."

"Of course!"

"Also, if you could pass on the message to Mr Potter and Mr Weasley, it would be appreciated."

"I will."

"Excellent! Now, if you want to go to bed now, it is getting very late and I'll be seeing you tomorrow at school! Oh, and congratulations on becoming a Gryffindor prefect!"

"Thankyou, sir," I muttered, and went up to bed, my four (well, three-and-a-half) vampire roommates following me.

**What do you think? If you haven't yet, read the original version by EC4prez, called A Magical Experience! Please Review!**


	3. 6 Hogwarts Express

**Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight or Harry Potter. Technically, I don't even own this fanfic! **

**6. Hogwarts Express.**

**EPOV**

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," warned Alice as Fred and George raised their wands.

"Oh really?" asked George.

"Why not?" asked Fred.

Alice rolled her eyes. "'Cause it's all gonna end in tears and a _lot_ of shouting."

"You should listen to her," I told them.

"Whatever," muttered George, and together the twins said the spell to make their luggage zoom down the stairs.

"Three…two…one…" muttered Alice. Our sensitive ears picked up Ginny's surprised exclamation and a series of thumps.

"Their fault!" shouted Alice and ducked out of the hall. As soon as she was gone, Mrs Weasley appeared on the landing below us and immediately started shouting.

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING? AS IF WE'RE NOT IN ENOUGH OF A HURRY ALREADY WITHOUT YOU TWO KNOCKING YOUR SISTER DOWN THE STAIRS!"

"Good luck," I muttered and then went into Harry's room.

He was having some pretty weird dreams. I saw him walking down a long dark corridor ending in a locked door before he woke up.

His thoughts were still wary around me so I assumed Hermione hadn't spoken to the boys yet.

Alice came dancing into the room the second Harry finished dressing.

"We're going to Hogwarts! We're going to Hogwarts!" she sang happily.

_Edward,_ she thought, _Hermione's about to tell them. You have to see their reactions!_

Right on cue, Hermione ran through the door.

"Harry! Where's Ron? I have to talk to you..! oh, hi Alice, Edward. Um…"

Ron followed her into the room too fast and bumped into her. Hermione stumbled and tripped over her feet. I ran to her side and caught her before she hit the ground.

"Oh, thanks," Hermione muttered, turning red.

I ran back to where Alice was standing in a fraction of a second and shrugged. "You're not the only human who trips over her own feet."

_Holy crap! _thought Ron, _That guy's fast!_

_Why did he say that about humans? _wondered Harry, _As though he isn't one himself!_

_For goodness sake!_ Hermione grumbled to herself, _Ron should learn to watch where he's going!_

Alice rolled her eyes. _Not another Bella!_

I growled at her.

_Geez, Edward, lighten up!_

Hermione had recovered herself.

"Harry, Ron, I need to tell you something!" She glanced at me and Alice shyly. We waited patiently for her to continue.

Ron glared at us. _Why don't they just leave already? They can see she wants to talk to us!_

"Er, can you guys give us a sec?" asked Harry.

"Actually, Harry, they can stay," Hermione told him.

Harry blinked. "They can?"

"Yes, they can. They're what I need to talk about!" She hesitated for a second then spoke quickly. "You know that theory I had about the Cullens being…being vampires? Well, it turns out I was right."

The boys stared at her. Their first thoughts were; _Of course she was right! Isn't she always? _then; _Vampires!?_

I laughed at their reactions. The sound of my laughter made Harry and Ron jump back and pull out their wands.

"_Per_lease!" cried Alice, rolling her eyes, "Give us a bit of credit!"

Hermione looked at us apologetically, just as the boys pointed their wands at us and shouted, _"Stupefy!"_

"Harry! Ron! No!" shouted Hermione.

Of course, the spell had no effect on us.

"Saw it coming," said Alice lazily.

"Are you okay?" asked Hermione. I raised my eyebrows at her and she turned pink. "Harry, Ron, don't attack them! They're friends!"

"Friends? You aren't serious are you?" demanded Ron.

"Do we look like we want to kill you?" asked Alice sarcastically, "Not that you wouldn't taste nice or anything," she added quickly with a teasing smile.

"We don't hunt humans," I told them, "Only animals."

I let them think for a minute.

"Yes, Dumbledore knows," I answered Harry's unspoken question, "Yes, I can read minds. Oh, and by the way," I said to Ron, "I would appreciate it if you stopped thinking about my Bella that way. You're really starting to get on my nerves, kid."

Ron immediately turned red and started singing an unfamiliar song in his head. It didn't help that Bella came into the room at that moment.

_Oh crap!_ thought Ron, _Here she is now! Wow, she's hot! I mean, no; I didn't mean that! Dammit! She's a mind reading vampire's girlfriend! Stop thinking! Argh!_

I was shaking with laughter now.

"You're giving me a headache, kid," I told him, "Not the easiest thing to do, you know."

"What's he thinking?" asked Bella. I was at her side in half a second and wrapping my arms around her.

"He's trying not to make a vampire angry with him," I replied casually.

Bella laughed; the sound never ceased to make my dead heart leap. "Don't worry, Ron. It takes rather a lot to make Edward angry."

Ron looked relieved, but his thoughts were still amusing.

"Oh, and Mrs Weasley says to hurry up and get downstairs. She's worried we're going to miss the train."

"She's worrying about nothing," announced Alice, "I can see us getting there in plenty of time. Although," she added thoughtfully, "we could always get there extra-early!"

I saw what she was thinking. "Alice…" I warned, even though I quite liked the idea.

"Yay!" she squealed, "I knew you'd agree!"

"Alice, we are _not_ stealing a car!"

"Yes we are! I saw it! You've already decided!"

Sometimes I hated having a psychic as a little sister.

"I could change my mind," I reminded her.

"But you won't! Oh, Edward, there's this cute little Mini parked around the corner! The owner won't even realise it's missing til this afternoon!"

There was no way I was going to win this.

"I'll go tell Mrs Weasley!" Alice sang, dancing out of the room.

Bella groaned. "Not again!"

I smiled down at her. "She misses her Porsche," I shrugged, "There aren't any cars in the magical world."

Hermione was staring at us. "She can't just steal a car!"

"Try telling Alice that," I replied darkly.

There wasn't enough room in the stolen Mini for all of us, so Alice took us in groups. I, of course, ended up stuck between Jasper and Emmett.

"So, Edward, what are your thoughts on Harry Potter?" asked Carlisle from the front passenger seat.

I shrugged. "He can get a bit grumpy and he's fairly self-obsessed – you should've heard his thoughts when he didn't get prefect! – just like a normal human teenager, really. He does have some pretty weird dreams, though." I proceeded to tell them about the dreams I'd seen.

"Harry sounds like one seriously messed up kid," commented Emmett.

Alice got us to the station in two minutes, where we met Bella, Esme, Mrs Weasley and Harry. Bella and Esme were standing awkwardly by a separating barrier.

"Hurry, hurry!" babbled Mrs Weasley, "Get onto the platform quickly!"

I glanced at my ticket, and then at the platforms on either side of us. Platform 9 and Platform 10. No Platform 9 ¼, no Platform 9 ½, certainly no Platform 9 ¾.

"Um…" I began uncertainly.

"Where the hell is this Platform 9 ¾?" burst out Jasper, who was looking uncomfortable surrounded by so many humans.

Mrs Weasley looked confused for a second. "Oh yes, of course! I forgot you wouldn't know what to do!" She pointed at the barrier behind us. "You just need to run at that barrier there and you'll get through."

"Are you crazy?" asked Emmett, sounding genuinely curious, "If we collide with that, we'll knock the whole station down!"

"No, no, you won't!" replied Mrs Weasley, wringing her hands anxiously, "I'll go first to demonstrate!"

We watched her lean casually against the barrier and then she was gone.

"Sweet!" commented Emmett.

"But will it work for us?" asked Bella nervously.

An awful smell came up behind me right then, and I turned to face Jacob, a big black dog that was Sirius (both of whom were the source of the smell), Renesmee, and Rosalie.

Rosalie looked revolted. "Imagine sitting in a car with not one, but _two_ smelly mutts!"

"You don't smell so wonderful yourself, Blondie!" retorted Jacob.

Renesmee rolled her eyes. "Alice says to tell you that yes, it will work for us."

"Excellent!" exclaimed Emmett, bounding forward. "Watch this Rose!" And he disappeared through the barrier.

"Show off," muttered Rosalie, following him.

Carlisle and Esme went together, then Jacob and Renesmee, then Harry, then Jasper.

"After you," I told the dog, and he left. I offered Bella my arm. "Shall we?"

She took my elbow with a giggle and we walked forward together. I heard Bella gasp in wonder.

"Wow."

I had to agree with her. The rest of the station had disappeared and we were now standing on an individual platform in front of a gleaming red steam train.

We were joined a minute later by Ron, Hermione, Tonks, and Mr Weasley. Ron looked rather pale.

"Your sister drives like a maniac!" he said shakily.

Jasper, Emmett, Jacob, Bell and I laughed.

The last group to arrive consisted of Alice, Fred, George, Ginny, and creepy old Mad-Eye. If Alice was hyper before, it was nothing to what she was now. She was jumping around like Winnie-the-Pooh's friend Tigger the tiger gone psycho, and confusing other students by greeting them by name.

I glanced at Jasper. "Isn't there anything you can do?"

He grinned at me and went after his overexcited wife. "Alice…"

A whistle rang out over the platform and I took Bella's hand. "Time to get on the train, love."

Carlisle spoke now to the rest of his family. "Esme and I are going to sit in the staff carriage. You kids have a good trip and please, _please_ try not to get into any trouble!"

"Don't worry, Carlisle," I assured him, "We'll keep Emmett in check."

Carlisle smiled gratefully. "Good luck!"

I returned the smile. We were going to need it. "Well, we'll see you when we get there."

Esme reached out to hug us. "Be good," she told us gently, but firmly.

"Don't worry about us, Esme," said Bella, receiving a hug of her own.

"Come _on!_" wailed Alice impatiently. As soon as everyone had been hugged, she grabbed Jasper's hand and dragged him to the train.

"We'd better go," I muttered, and the rest of us followed them onto the train just as it started moving.

Ron and Hermione had to leave for the prefect's carriage, which left us Cullens alone with Harry and Ginny.

"Let's go find a compartment!" squealed Alice. Harry and Ginny led the way down the train corridor. We soon met a tall, round-faced boy. I learnt from the thoughts around me that his name was Neville Longbottom.

"Hey, Neville!" Ginny greeted him. Neville was too busy to answer, staring at us, his eyes wide.

_Wow!_ he thought, _Who are these guys? I've never seen them before. Maybe they're new students, although they're too big to be first-years. What are they doing with Harry? Oh no! I hope they're not giving him a hard time about all the news that's been going around!_

I immediately liked this boy. He reminded me of Bella's old friend, Angela Weber, what with the way he thought of his friends before himself. I held out a hand to introduce myself. "Hello. My name is Edward Masen. This is my family; my sister, Renesmee; Bella Swan; Rosalie and Jasper Hale; and the Cullens – Emmett, Alice, and their cousin Jacob."

Neville flinched when I introduced Alice. Curious, I probed his thoughts, and saw the image of a wispy-haired, frail-looking woman who bore a strong resemblance to the boy before me. There was such sadness behind this image that Jasper winced.

"Oh, um, hi. I'm Neville. Nice to meet you." Neville turned to Harry and Ginny. "I can't find a free compartment! Everywhere's full!"

Ginny peeked into the compartment next to her. "This one's free. There's no one in here but Luna Lovegood."

Emmett snickered at the name. "We'll be next door."

"But they're both full," said Bella.

"Are they?" Emmett grinned and slid one of the doors open. The small group of girls barely had time to look up before he barged into the compartment. "Okay, out you go! This one's taken!"

"Hey! What's the idea?" demanded one of the girls, but Emmett gave her a fierce look and she hurried out of the compartment without further question.

Emmett settled himself casually in the corner, unaware of the frowns coming at him from all directions.

"That wasn't very nice, Emmett," I scolded him, sitting across from him and pulling Bella onto my lap. Emmett shrugged.

Everyone who passed our door would stop and stare when they saw us. We paid them no attention, used to whispers about the mysterious Cullen family, until the door slid open.

A tall, thin boy stood there. He had white blonde hair, styled in a way that made Alice shudder, and was very pale, for a human.

"I heard there were some new students on the train," he said in a drawl. He didn't even react to our inhuman beauty.

"That would be us," Alice told him. He looked at my sister with slight disgust.

"So you were raised like Muggles?"

"I guess you could say that," I replied slowly.

"Ew! I'm in a compartment full of Mudbloods! I was wondering what that smell was!"

"No, that's just the dog," said Rosalie, pointing at Jacob. The boy blinked and we all burst out laughing, even Jake. The pale boy apparently didn't like being laughed at.

"Your first mistake, Mudbloods!" he hissed at us, before turning to leave and slamming the door behind him. His anger only made us laugh louder.

The door opened again and Harry, Ron, and Hermione came in.

"What's the joke?" demanded Ron.

"Some boy just came in, called us 'Mudbloods' and wanted to know what the smell was," esplained Bella, "Rosalie told him it was Jacob."

The wizards exchanged dark looks.

"That would probably be Malfoy," muttered Harry. I recognised the pale boy in his thoughts.

"Yes, that was him."

"Why did he call us Mudbloods?" asked Renesmee.

"It's what some pure-blood wizards call Muggle-borns. People like me who have Muggle parents. They think our blood is dirty," said Hermione bitterly. She looked very upset.

I snorted. "What would he know about blood, dirty or otherwise?"

Alice stood up from where she was sitting on Jasper's knee and danced over to Hermione. She leaned in very deliberately and sniffed her throat. Everyone tensed, but then Alice stepped back and smiled kindly.

"I don't think you smell dirty. You actually have a distinctly sweet scent."

I noticed she was right. Hermione's blood was nothing on Bella's, of course, but it smelled nice all the same.

"She does too!" added Emmett, "I hadn't realised!"

"You all smell the same to me," shrugged Jasper, "If your blood is dirty, then so is his."

"I would know if you had dirty blood," Rosalie told her, "And trust me, so would you."

Hermione went slightly pink as the blood we were discussing rushed to her cheeks.

"Um, thanks, guys," she mumbled uncertainly. We all grinned at her.

"Hey, come sit down!" suggested Alice, "Budge over, Emmett!"

"Are you sure?" asked Harry.

"Of course we're sure! Come on! We don't bite!"

We all stared at Alice and she rolled her eyes.

"You know what I mean!"

They sank awkwardly into the spaces we'd made for them.

"So," began Ron, breaking the silence, "do you know what houses you're going to be in?"

"I've got a fairly good idea," laughed Alice, while the rest of us shrugged.

"Well," said Hermione, "You're sorted into one of four houses based on your personality. There's Gryffindor for bravery, Ravenclaw for intelligence, Hufflepuff for loyalty, and Slytherin for…well, basically just for pure evil; people who only think of themselves."

"Oh my God!" exclaimed Jacob, looking at Rosalie, "That is so you!"

Rose started to stand up, a hiss escaping her throat, but Emmett held her back.

"Let go of me, Emmett! I am going to teach that _dog_ a lesson!" she snarled furiously.

"Jazz, now would be a good time," I hinted.

"Don't you dare!" shouted Rosalie, "That mutt deserves what he gets!"

"JASPER!" yelled Emmett, Alice, Bella, Jacob, Renesmee, and I.

"Okay, okay! I've got it!"

It took a few seconds for Rosalie to relax. The three wizards stared at her with their mouths hanging open.

"Blimey! You've got a bit of a temper!" commented Ron.

"Tell me about it," muttered Jasper, "I was almost going to kill him myself!"

"Geez, you bloodsuckers can't take a joke!" complained Jacob. He looked at Alice. "Why didn't you warn me she would react like that?"

"You know I can't see the wolves! Don't blame me!" snapped Alice. Jasper calmed her down before she could get angry, then glanced apologetically at Harry, Ron, and Hermione.

"You're scared."

Ron scowled indignantly. "We are not! It takes more than just an angry vampire to scare us!"

Jasper chuckled. "No point lying to me. I can feel exactly what you're feeling."

Ron looked embarrassed. "You know what I'm feeling?"

"A gift of mine," he shrugged. He looked at Hermione. "You didn't do a very good job of filling them in."

"I didn't really have much time," mumbled Hermione.

"Well, you've got plenty of time now," said Alice. When Hermione didn't say anything, she continued. "Anyhoo, some vampires have certain talents. As you just saw, Jazz can experience and manipulate emotions. You already know how Edward can read minds. Renesmee can project her thoughts into other minds. Bella is a metal shield, that is, talents such as Edward's don't work on her. I can see the future."

I didn't have to hear Harry and Ron's thoughts to know they were impressed.

"That's pretty cool," Ron muttered.

Harry was about to agree with him, but Emmett interrupted with a groan.

"Are we there yet?" he complained, "This train is going _sooo_ slow!"

Alice searched the future quickly. "We will get there in two hours and forty-three minutes," she told him, "I'm sure you can find a way to entertain yourself for that long!"

I really wished Alice hadn't said that. For the next two-and-a-half hours, we had to watch Emmett entertain himself in the form of making out with Rosalie.

"How could you not have seen this coming?" I demanded of Alice.

"I'm sorry!" she wailed, a sickened expression on her face, "If I hadn't told him he would've kept nagging until Jasper attacked him and then they would've destroyed the entire compartment from their wrestling!"

Harry, Ron, and Hermione were watching them with a mixture of fascination, disgust, and, in Ron's case, envy.

"Please!" I hissed as Ron's thoughts strayed to a disturbing area. "Stop thinking! Those two are bad enough!"

Ron went bright red while Harry laughed loudly.

"You guys can go back to your friends if you want," Alice told them, "We'll get there in seventeen minutes."

The three wizards jumped up immediately to go back to their own compartment.

"Emmett!" I said loudly, and he broke away from Rosalie to look at me.

"What?"

"You can stop entertaining yourself now; we're nearly there!"

"Awesome!" he exclaimed.

We changed into our new school robes at human speed, Alice and Rose making faces at they examined their outfits.

"These wizards obviously haven't heard of fashion!" Alice complained.

I suddenly realised how nervous my Bella was behaving. If I didn't know her so well I probably wouldn't have noticed.

I folded my arms around her shoulders.

"Is everything okay, my love?' I whispered in her ear.

"I'm just a little nervous," she admitted, "New school, people staring, all that." She giggled nervously. "You'd think I'd have gotten over my silly human worries after almost eleven years."

"Well, this time none of us know what to expect. Don't worry."

She still looked unsure, so I kissed her forehead gently.

"You'll be fine, love," I assured her.

She sighed against my chest. "I know."

We felt the train slow to a stop and heard the commotion of people getting their luggage together.

Alice yanked the door open so hard that it almost splintered under her hand.

"Careful, Alice," Jasper warned her.

I took Bella's hand and gave it a gentle squeeze.

"Here we go, love."

**Please review and tell me what you think!**


	4. 7 Sorting the Cullens

**Disclaimer:**** I don't own Harry Potter OR Twilight, except for copies of the books.**

**AN: I'm glad you've all liked it so far! I'm going to update once a week so I have time to write new chapters. Thanks for the awesome reviews!!**

**teamjakeedward**** just to answer your reviews, Hermione figures out about the Cullens so quickly because, a) she's a smarty-pants, and b) because she's already in the Magical world, the concept of vampires, etc aren't so strange to her, plus it's obvious to her that there's something up with them.**

**Also, I know Jacob looks about twenty-something, but just remember that these guys have supposedly only just discovered their magic and he needs an education in it. Since this is the story they're telling everyone, most people accept that he's older than everyone else but still at school.**

**7. Sorting the Cullens.**

**APOV**

Yay! Yay! Yay! Yay! Yay!

We're at Hogwarts!

This is even cooler than that time that Jazz let me spend three days straight in a shopping mall!

People were already staring at us, and we weren't even off the train yet! I just beamed at everyone who caught my eye. I honestly didn't get why Bella hated attention! She probably hit her head one too many times when she was human and messed up her brain. Knowing Bella, it probably _did_ happen.

Ugh! What was taking my family so long? They should show a little enthusiasm! I groaned out loud. They were going so _slow!_ I mean, seriously, what's the point of having superhuman speed if you're just gonna drag yourself along like a turtle?

Edward chuckled from behind me and I turned to glare at him.

_Yeah, Edward, go ahead and laugh, but would you just _hurry up?

"Sorry, Alice," he laughed.

_How about a little sincerity next time?_

He only laughed louder.

I couldn't stay grumpy at him for long; I was far too excited!

"Hey, Alice!" called a voice I recognised as Hermione's. At least _she_ seemed happy to be here!

"Hi! Oh, this is so exciting! I can't believe I'm at a magic school! Aren't these robes awful? I mean, they aren't even designer! Do I have to put on that hat during the Sorting? It looks terrible and I already know what house I'm gonna be in, so there's really no point!"

We stepped off the train onto the platform. Hermione rushed off to find Harry and Ron, but I stayed behind, waiting for my family to show up. They sure took their time, too. When they _finally_ joined me, Bella glanced around shyly.

"I suppose we just follow everyone else?"

I nodded. "There are carriages out on the street to take us to the castle."

Jasper took my hand and smiled down at me. "Shall we go, then?"

I started forward in reply, literally dragging him along behind me. I could hear the others following us.

"Ew!" complained Rosalie when she saw what was pulling the carriages.

"I second that," muttered Bella, "Edward, what _are_ they?"

"I don't know," my brother admitted, frowning, "I…hmm."

"What?" I asked.

"It would appear that only very few people here can see them."

"Really? That's interesting. Do you know why that is?"

"I don't. However, we should find a carriage. We aren't looking very human standing out here in the rain."

We needed two carriages to fit all eight of us, and then we were heading up to the castle. It looked even better than it had in my vision!

"Wow!" we all exclaimed. Even Rose looked impressed.

Our feet made no sound as we lightly crossed the huge Entrance Hall and followed the students to the next hall along.

I heard Jasper beside me whistle as we took in our surroundings.

The students all sat at four long wooden tables, calling their friends over and laughing amongst themselves. There was a fifth table at the end of the hall where members of staff watched them. I spotted Carlisle and Esme sitting side by side at the end of the table, smiling and talking to a very short old man next to them. I also noticed several pearly white ghosts drifting between the tables. I inhaled deeply but could find no scent coming off them.

I looked up to see the ceiling reflected the night sky outside.

"What do you think would happen if it showed the sun?" wondered Bella, following my gaze.

I searched forward and saw us under the sunlit ceiling, sparkling in the sun's rays.

"We'll avoid the Great Hall when the sun's out," I told her.

Edward suddenly looked up sharply. "Dumbledore wants to speak to us," he muttered to the family.

Everyone stared at us as we made our way to the staff table, pointing and whispering. I took Jasper's hand and held it tight when I heard a small group of girls wondering in whispers whether he was single or not.

"Welcome to Hogwarts!" said Dumbledore when we stopped in front of him. "I trust you all had a good train journey? Excellent! Now, if you would like to wait here before the Sorting begins? It shouldn't be long now."

"Fifty-seven seconds," I told him promptly.

Dumbledore smiled at me. "I am sure you will love the subject of Divination, Mrs Whitlock-Cullen. I expect you will teach our Professor Trelawney a thing or two."

I grinned back. "That lady doesn't have a clue! Tea-leaves? Crystal balls? _Pur_lease!"

Edward laughed quietly.

Precisely thirty-one seconds later, the doors to the Great Hall opened and Professor McGonagall, whom we had met in London, trotted toward us, followed by a line of nervous looking first-years. My poor Jasper must be overwhelmed by the hundreds of different emotions in the hall.

McGonagall stopped the kids when she came to a small wooden stool with the Sorting Hat sitting on it. My family joined the group of first-years and everyone looked at the Hat expectantly. I smiled, knowing what was coming next and waiting for my family's reactions.

The Hat started singing.

Bella gripped Edward's arm in surprise. Renesmee jumped back and Jacob stepped in front of her, staring at the Hat through narrowed eyes. A low hiss escaped Rose. Emmett, of course, just snorted in amusement. "What the f..!?"

Edward cut him off by whacking his shoulder. "We're surrounded by eleven year olds!" he reminded Emmett.

The Hat finished its song and earned a round of applause. Professor McGonagall now addressed the new students.

"Come forward when your name is called and place the Hat upon your head, so you can be Sorted into your houses."

The first boy, Euan Abercrombie, was placed in Gryffindor, as was the next student.

McGonagall went through all the A's, all the B's, and most of the C's while I was getting more and more excited.

Finally, she announced, "Cullen, Alice!"

Taking an unnecessary deep breath, I walked forward and picked up the Hat…

**EPOV**

This Hat really was fascinating! I heard what it thought as it Sorted each student, as if it had its own brain. The way it picked through the minds of the students was very similar to Aro's power. As soon as it touched the kid's head, it would search through every thought the mind had ever held in order to pick out their strongest quality. I was utterly intrigued.

I watched my sister lower the Sorting Hat on her head, and the mental conversation between them began.

"_Well, well, well, isn't this different? A vampire at Hogwarts! I have never seen anything like it!"_

"_Yeah, yeah, Hat,"_ thought Alice, _"I've heard it all before. Just get to the Sorting, would you?"_

"_Let's see…"_ the Hat pondered, _"hmm, a fortune teller. And you use your visions to go for the smartest choice. You gain wisdom from them…I'll have to say…_RAVENCLAW!"

The Ravenclaw table erupted into applause as the pixie-like girl skipped gracefully over to them, beaming.

"Cullen, Emmett!" called McGonagall.

Emmett bounded forward and crammed the Hat onto his head, almost ripping it in half.

"_Now _this_ is difficult,"_ thought the Hat, _"You're so brave you're stupid, so Gryffindor would be the best option…"_

"_Aw, come on!"_ whined Emmett, _"Gryffindor? Hey, put me in Slytherin!"_

"_Well, you _do_ have a couple of Slytherin characteristics; frightening; a bit of a bully…"_

I chuckled.

"…_very well then. _SLYTHERIN!"

"Hell yeah!" shouted Emmett, and took off down the hall to sit with the Slytherins.

"Cullen, Jacob!" announced McGonagall.

Jacob released Renesmee's hand reluctantly and took his time putting the Hat on.

"_Okay, give me your worst,"_ he thought.

"_Ah, now; this one's easy! Mountains of loyalty – to your pack, your soul mate, your best friend…even to those who were once your enemies! _ HUFFLEPUFF!"

Jacob looked surprised, but I grinned at him, realising how right the Sorting Hat was.

We had to wait for Professor McGonagall to get to the H's before Jasper could be Sorted.

"Hale, Jasper!"

"Go Jazz!" squealed Alice, causing half the school to laugh. Jasper smiled at her in embarrassment and pulled the Hat on. It took the Hat a second to see how Jasper looked at things logically and always figured out the best way to approach a situation.

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Yay, Jazz!" shouted Alice, jumping up and down in excitement. Jasper took the seat beside her and pulled her into a hug.

"Hale, Rosalie!"

Rose looked at the shabby Hat with distaste before picking it up between her fingertips and setting it lightly on her blonde hair.

"_Shallow, self-absorbed, anti-social, bitchy…"_

A growl built up in Rosalie's chest. _"I hope you're enjoying this, Edward! Say whatever you want, Hat, but if you've messed up my hair I will tear you to shreds!"_

The last thought did it.

"SLYTHERIN!"

Rosalie stormed over to Emmett, who was cheering wildly, while Jacob howled with laughter from the Hufflepuff table.

_I knew it!_ he thought.

I waited patiently with Bella and Renesmee, watching the other students as they were Sorted.

"Masen, Edward!"

I kissed Bella on the forehead and wished her and Renesmee luck before I moved forward and put the Hat on.

"_Hello, young Edward,"_ muttered the Hat in my ear.

"_Good evening,"_ I thought back politely.

"_Hmm, let's see. Great intelligence. Extremely loyal to your family, especially your creator. But mostly brave, doing anything to protect your family, always doing the right thing. _GRYFFINDOR!"

"_Thankyou,"_ I thought before taking the Hat off and going to sit with the rest of the Gryffindors, including Harry, Ron, and Hermione.

"Masen, Renesmee!"

Nessie left her mother's side and picked up the Hat.

"_Aren't you a bit young to be here?"_ teased the Hat once it was upon her head.

"_I'm about as old as the rest of the first-years!"_ she retorted.

"_Very well. You have intelligence and bravery beyond your years! You would do extremely well in Ravenclaw or Gryffindor. However, you are also a good person and you belong with your other half in _HUFFLEPUFF!"

I watched with pride as my little girl crossed the Hall to sit with Jacob.

My Bella was now all alone amidst the first years. She was fidgeting nervously and were she human, her cheeks would have been bright red, a trait I still missed after ten and a half years.

"Jasper," I muttered, "please help her calm down."

_Sure thing,_ he thought from the Ravenclaw table.

I watched Bella relax and flash a grateful smile at Jasper.

"Thanks," she whispered.

The remaining group was halved before Professor McGonagall announced, finally, "Swan, Isabella!"

Bella looked positively alarmed and looked at me with her eyes wide.

"You'll be fine," I encouraged with a smile.

She didn't hesitate any longer and placed the Hat upon her head.

"_Ah, Isabella, I've heard much about you from your family."_

"_It's Bella,"_ she muttered.

The Hat chuckled. _"Of course, of course. Now this is easy! Twelve years ago, you knowingly walked to your death to save your mother and your love."_

I cringed at the memory.

"_A while later you saved your love from the Volturi, knowing there was a probability you would die. After that, you risked your life for your baby. When you were changing from human to vampire, you faced two days of agony without uttering a sound to save your love from emotional pain."_

I froze. What? Bella had never told me this! Two days of agony? She _felt_ it all? But the morphine…

"Edward?" asked Hermione, watching my face, "Are you okay?"

I didn't answer, frozen as I was after hearing the Hat. Bella snapped her head up when she heard Hermione and met my eyes with a mixture of horror and apology.

"_This is why you kept quiet, is it?"_ continued the Hat, _"Well, there is no doubt as to where you belong. _GRYFFINDOR!"

My stress vanished when I saw Bella running towards me. I stood up to kiss her when she reached the table and we sat down together.

The Sorting ended with a girl named Rose Zeller and at a couple of words from Dumbledore, a feast appeared magically on the tables.

Bella and I filled our plates for a human effect, but just picked at it with our fingers.

A ghost known as Nearly Headless Nick glided over and sat between us.

"Welcome to Gryffindor house!" he said heartily.

"Thankyou," replied Bella shyly.

Nick was about to say something, but was cut off by Ron, who was chewing a piece of chicken loudly. He stared at the eating students wistfully. It seemed that ghosts were unable to eat.

"You're not missing out on anything good," I reassured him. "All this human food just tastes like dirt."

The ghost gave a small, appreciative smile before turning to talk to Harry, Ron and Hermione about the Sorting Hat's Song.

The dirt eventually vanished from our plates and Dumbledore stood up to speak.

"To our new students; welcome! To our old students; welcome back! As I am sure you have noticed, we have, besides our first years, eight new students among us. Though Alice, Emmett, Jacob, Jasper, Rosalie, Edward, Renesmee and Isabella are late in beginning their magical education, I sincerely hope you will treat them just as any other student at Hogwarts."

He paused to smile at us. "Having said that, I will now introduce to you our new members of staff. We are delighted, of course, to welcome back Professor Grubbly-Plank, who will take over the teaching of Care of Magical Creatures in Professor Hagrid's absence. Also, I would like to introduce Professor Cullen," he gestured to Esme, "who will be teaching Muggle Studies, accompanied by Doctor Cullen," Carlisle gave a small wave, "who will also be assisting Madam Pomfrey in the hospital wing. It is lastly my great pleasure to introduce Professor Umbridge, our new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher."

Dumbledore was halfway through an announcement when a small _hem hem_ interrupted him. He looked expectantly at a short, squat woman who was wearing a fluffy pink jacket and matching headband in mousy brown, curly hair.

The woman – Professor Umbridge – cleared her throat again. She thanked Dumbledore in an annoying, high pitched voice and began a long speech about how the Ministry of Magic was planning on interfering at Hogwarts through her, although only Hermione, the teachers, and we Cullens picked up the meaning. She finished speaking and I glanced around at my family to see what they thought.

_Keep and eye on the woman, Edward,_ Carlisle told me through his thoughts.

Emmett looked unworried, as usual, and Rose was busy examining her fingernails at the Slytherin table.

Jasper met my eyes, frowning, while beside him, Alice was staring at Professor Umbridge's outfit, looking mortified.

Jacob and Renesmee were whispering to each other urgently. For some reason, they both had an especially bad feeling about her.

Dumbledore dismissed us and we followed Harry up to the Gryffindor common room while Ron and Hermione went off to do prefect duties. Harry stopped in front of a painting of a fat lady who looked right at us.

"Password?" she asked.

Harry paused. "Er…" He looked at me for help, but I shrugged.

"She's a painting. She doesn't have a mind for me to read."

"Harry!"

I turned to see the boy Neville Longbottom running towards us. "Oh. Uh, hi, Edward, right? And Isabella?"

"Bella," she corrected automatically.

"I know the password! I'll actually remember it this time!" Neville held up a funny looking pot plant. "_Mimbulus Mimbletonia!"_ he announced and the painting swung forward to reveal a hidden doorway.

"I feel like I'm in a James Bond movie or something," muttered Bella as she climbed gracefully through the portrait hole.

The Gryffindor common room reminded me of mine and Bella's cottage in Forks. It was small and cosy, with soft armchairs around a fireplace and tables scattered around the room.

It was also crowded with students, whereas I needed to speak with Bella privately.

Harry pointed out the two staircases leading to the boys' and girls' separate dormitories. I thanked him before taking Bella's hand and pulling her to the boys' dorm.

I found my suitcase sitting next to one of the beds and sat down, leaning my head on my palms in anguish.

"Bella…" I moaned.

I felt her sit beside me silently. "You heard what the Sorting Hat said?"

I couldn't look at her. "Bella, I am so very sorry! I never knew! I truly am a monster!"

"No!" said Bella firmly. She pulled my hands away and forced me to meet her eyes. "Edward Anthony Masen Cullen, you listen to me! You are _not_ a monster! We had no idea the morphine wouldn't work. It wasn't your fault!"

"But you must've been in so much pain!" I winced at the memory of my own transformation and couldn't bear the thought of my angel going through the same agony.

Bella grimaced but quickly straightened her face out. "Edward," she whispered softly, "This is exactly why I never told you. Why I didn't utter a sound while I was burning." She cringed again. "I knew that every scream I made would only torture you."

"This is all my fault!" I mumbled, "I should never have agreed; should have left you human!"

"I would've got my way in the end," she told me, smiling a little, "But what's done is done. It happened years ago! And I have never regretted it. The pain was worth it because now I have you forever."

"Forever," I agreed, and put my lips to her hand. I wouldn't speak with Bella about it again, but I would never, ever forgive myself for hurting her.

The dormitory door opened and Harry and Neville came in with two other boys we hadn't met yet.

"Oh!" exclaimed Harry, turning red when he saw me and Bella on the bed together. "Er, sorry. We didn't realise anyone was up here."

"That is perfectly alright," I replied, sliding Bella across so she was sitting on my lap with my arms around her. "You didn't interrupt anything. Bella and I were merely talking."

The two unfamiliar boys were staring at us in awe and I smiled at them politely. "I'm afraid I haven't had the chance to introduce myself yet. I am Edward Masen and this is Bella Swan."

"Dean Thomas," mumbled the first boy. _As if they were just talking! If I found myself alone with that babe on a bed…_

"I would appreciate it greatly if you stopped staring at my girlfriend like that, Dean," I told him, making my voice as cold as possible. As if he could feel the iciness of my tone, Dean shivered and looked down at his feet.

"Edward! No need to scare the poor kid," teased Bella. She grinned at Dean before turning her attention to the other boy. "What's your name?"

"Er, Seamus. Seamus Finnigan," the boy replied in a grumble. I didn't need my older brother's special talent to tell he was in a bad mood. I searched his mind to figure out why.

_Can't believe I'm stuck back here with the nutter! He's either lying or crazy! As if You Know Who's back…_

It didn't take long for Seamus to voice his thoughts and begin an argument. I was happy for Harry to know that both Dean and Neville believed him, and watched them fight with Seamus until Ron took advantage of his new prefect responsibilities.

To ease the tension in the room, everyone except Harry and Seamus began asking Bella and I about ourselves. After a while, Bella gave a realistic yawn and said she should be getting to bed.

"I'll meet you in the common room when these guys are asleep," I whispered as she reached up to kiss me.

"Don't keep me waiting too long," she replied, then, louder, "Goodnight, Edward."

"Goodnight my Bella. I love you."

She smiled at me and kissed me once more before she headed downstairs. As soon as the human boys heard her light footsteps fade away, they started whistling. I just laid back on my bed and waited for them to fall asleep so I could see my love once more.


	5. 8 First Day

**Disclaimer:**** I don't own Harry Potter or Twilight. Parts of speech in this chapter is taken directly from Harry Potter and the Order of the Pheonix.**

**Again, thankyou so much for all the positive feedback!!**

**List of POVs:**

**Bella – BPOV**

**Edward – EPOV**

**Renesmee – NPOV**

**Jacob – JPOV**

**Alice – APOV**

**Jasper – JasPOV**

**Emmet – EmPOV**

**Rosalie – RPOV**

**Harry – HPOV**

**Ron – RonPOV**

**Hermione - HerPOV**

**8. First Day**

**JasPOV**

Talk about a wide range of emotions! Nerves, excitement, fear, homesickness, zeal (provided largely by Alice, of course), joy, and trepidation, all in the last twelve hours! I was incredibly relieved to find myself walking down to the Great Hall alone. Alice was too busy preparing herself for her first day to join me.

I smiled to myself when I thought of Alice. My gorgeous little pixie had already befriended all of Ravenclaw, particularly a sixth year girl named Cho Chang.

I quickened my slow human pace slightly as I descended a staircase. The hallways were empty of humans and their emotions, but, according to Alice, I only had about eight minutes before students would be heading down to breakfast. I figured I should enjoy the calm atmosphere before it was disturbed. Sure enough, I had only just sat down at the Ravenclaw table when I heard students begin to emerge from their dormitories.

The Great Hall filled up quickly and I soon had to crane my neck to try and spot Alice. I barely noticed when a girl with dark blonde hair and curious emotions sat beside me until she spoke.

"Hello," she said brightly, "My name is Luna Lovegood. I don't know your name though."

I must say I was surprised. I was rarely approached by humans, as they were too intimidated by me and my family to speak to me. But then again, this girl hardly seemed normal, I thought as I looked her over. She wore a vacant expression and her voice was dreamy. Her emotions were strange, completely different from those around her. I supposed that I would've picked her as the odd one out easily in a crowd of humans. And her clothes! I was surprised Alice hadn't given her a makeover yet, not that I knew much about fashion. Were those _vegetables_ hanging from her ears?

It took me less than a second to assess her before I replied. "Jasper Hale."

"Alice Cullen is your girlfriend, isn't she? I met Alice last night. She is very nice to me; I'm so happy you both got put in Ravenclaw."

I didn't know what to say. It was a nice change that she wasn't trying to flirt with me like the other human females I'd met. I was saved from thinking of something to say by the little pixie herself. Alice hopped gracefully so she sat on my knee and leaned up to kiss the tip of my nose.

"Hi, Luna!" she grinned at the girl next to us. "I see you've met Jazz!"

Luna nodded. "I was just talking to him about how nice you are. You look very pretty, Alice."

Alice beamed at her. "Thankyou, Luna! Although I'm not sure about these robes. Plain black? I mean, black is okay when you've got a bit of colour, but when you don't…" She shook her head sadly.

"It does look nice with your hair," commented Luna.

"It's a bit too much, I think. What do you reckon, Jasper?" She looked up at me expectantly.

"You look beautiful," I assured her truthfully.

Luna bit into a slice of toast. "Aren't you two hungry?"

I looked at the small helping of dirt on my plate and held back a grimace. "Not really."

"Well, you should try this anyway. It's really good." Luna took another bite.

I looked down at Alice, who was holding a muffin under her nose. I watched with sympathy as she tore off a mouthful with her teeth and ate it.

I picked up a piece of toast with disgust and forced myself to put it in my mouth. I tried not to groan out loud as the dirt slid down my throat thickly, making me want to be sick. Did I really have to keep up the human act and eat the dirt they called food for a whole year?

Timetables were handed out and I was pleased to find that Alice's was identical to mine.

I choked down a couple more bites before standing up and pulling Alice with me. "We should get going," I told her, "We don't want to be late for our first lesson."

"Let's go then," Alice agreed brightly, "See ya, Luna!"

"Goodbye, Alice. It was nice to meet you, Jasper Hale."

"Um, yeah. You too," I replied awkwardly. Alice was already skipping down the hall cheerfully, and I jogged, at a human pace, after her.

Our first class was Charms, which we had with a group of first-years. Alice, being as small as she was, blended in well with the younger students, but I stood tall among them, and I was suddenly surrounded with fearful emotions.

The teacher, Professor Flitwick, began the lesson by reciting our names from the roster before explaining what Charms is about. He placed a feather in front of each of us and instructed us to make it levitate.

"This is one of the simplest, most basic spells you'll come across," he explained, "Small objects such as these feathers are easiest. The incantation you need to know is _Wingardium Leviosa!"_

He pointed his wand at one of the feathers to demonstrate and was rewarded with a few claps and awed gasps. "Now you try."

The classroom was filled with nervous mutters of _"Wingardium Leviosa,"_ mostly to no effect.

Alice giggled and tapped my elbow. "Look at that boy at the front!"

I looked over to see where she was pointing in time to see the boy's feather explode in his face, singeing his eyebrows. I laughed quietly at the shock that filled the room.

Alice suddenly beamed at me. "Great job, Jazz! You got it first try!"

"And here I was hoping to be surprised," I sighed.

"That's what you get for marrying me!"

I pointed my wand at the feather before us. _"Wingardium Leviosa!"_

The feather rose up to hover in front of my face and everyone applauded. Alice threw her arms around me and kissed my cheek proudly. "I told you!"

"Excellent work, Mr Hale!" squeaked tiny Professor Flitwick, "Five points to Ravenclaw!"

"Thankyou, sir," I replied, nodding my head.

Alice did even better than me, her feather floating on the ceiling. She earned Ravenclaw another five points.

By the end of the lesson, only half a dozen other students had successfully made their feathers levitate. Flitwick congratulated them all and we were dismissed.

"That was so much fun!" squealed Alice, dancing out of the classroom. We sped up to the Divination tower, where we met Edward and Bella.

"How was History of Magic?" Alice asked. As if she didn't already know!

"It was certainly very interesting," replied Edward.

Bella stared at him in disbelief. "Interesting? Seriously, Edward, if I was human, I would've fallen asleep!"

Alice laughed. "Don't worry, Bella. Divination will be fun!"

"How do we get into the classroom?" I asked her, looking around.

Alice pointed up just as a trapdoor in the ceiling swung open and a rope ladder fell from it. Alice climbed up first, and I followed her. I was immediately overwhelmed by the perfumes in the air. I could barely find the human scents through the layers of florally incense and oils.

"Come on!" Alice pulled me to a table circled by four armchairs and we sat with Edward and Bella.

Bella was looking around curiously. "This is different," she commented, "Where's the teacher?"

"In the corner," Alice answered, "She'll come out in two minutes. She's trying to seem mysterious." She rolled her eyes.

Sure enough, two minutes later, a quiet, ominous voice said, "Welcome, children, to Divination," and a woman covered in beads and shawls walked slowly to the centre of the room. "My name is Professor Trelawney."

Bella stuffed her fist into her mouth to stop herself laughing and I chuckled quietly at the stereotype. Even Edward was quite amused.

"Maybe you should dress like that, Alice," he teased, "What kind of a psychic are you?"

Alice looked offended and Bella giggled harder. I calmed Bella down enough so she could take her fist out of her mouth, and returned my attention to Professor Trelawney.

"Which of you here believe you have the gift of Sight?" she asked. Alice's hand shot up, as did a couple of third-year girls'.

Trelawney surveyed them through oversized glasses. "You can predict future events?"

The girls nodded shyly and Alice said, "Yep!"

"May I have an example?"

"Um, well, I had a dream once," began one of the girls, "that the Tornadoes would win the Quidditch cup one year and they did."

"Thankyou. That is a good example, my dear." She turned to the second girl. "And you?"

"Well, I had a vision where my friend made it onto the Gobstones team this week. It hasn't happened yet, but it will."

"Excellent!" exclaimed Trelawney. "Many Seers have visions such as these and they always come to pass. You see, children, once a prediction is made, nothing can stop the events from unfolding. Often, the path one takes to prevent future events can be the cause of them occurring."

"That's not true!" cried Alice.

Trelawney looked at her. "I beg your pardon, my dear?"

"The future isn't set in stone," Alice explained, "it's subjective, based on the decisions someone makes. That girl's friend might not make it on the Gobstones team. If they change their mind about trying out, or if someone better suddenly decides to try out for it. The future changes all the time!"

Trelawney stared. "What is your name, dear?"

"Alice Cullen. Although you should've known that."

Trelawney went slightly pink. "And you believe you can see the future?"

"I know I can."

"Well, Miss Cullen, may you predict something for me?"

"Sure," Alice grinned and her eyes went blank for a few seconds.

Bella giggled again. "I see a makeover coming your way," she murmured in an ominous voice.

Alice's eyes refocused and she looked utterly delighted. "There's going to be a thunderstorm tonight!" she announced.

I exchanged eager looks with Edward and Bella. A thunderstorm! The perfect weather for vampire baseball! Excellent!

"Oh," added Alice, "And I wouldn't have that chicken for lunch if I were you. It's going to be undercooked and you'll get food poisoning." She grinned. "That's better."

Trelawney frowned, annoyance coming off her in waved. "Very good, dear."

"She doesn't like being upstaged," whispered Edward, and Alice glared at her.

The rest of the lesson was uneventful and then it was time for lunch. The four of us spent the break outside in the courtyard where we met Emmett, Rose, Renesmee, and Jacob.

"Baseball tonight," I told them, and their reactions were predictable. Excitement flowed off Renesmee, Jacob, and Rosalie, and Emmett was positively delighted.

"When? Where?" he demanded.

"After dinner tonight," replied Alice, "Where, I don't know." She looked around at us for ideas, but only received seven shrugs in reply.

Harry, Ron and Hermione walked into the courtyard at that moment and Alice danced over to them, the rest of the family following.

"Hi guys!" she chirped.

"Oh, hello Alice," replied Hermione with a smile, "hello, everyone! How's your first day going?"

"It's going great! Can you guys please tell us what the biggest open space in Hogwarts is?"

The humans weren't expecting this question and I felt their surprise.

Hermione blinked. "Um, well there's the front of Hogwarts down to the forest, or by the lake."

Alice shook her head. "No good. People will see us out the windows."

"What about the Quidditch pitch?" suggested Harry, "It's huge."

Alice paused to search the future, then grinned. "Perfect! Good thinking, Harry!"

"Um, why do you want to know?" asked Hermione.

It was Emmett who answered. "We need somewhere to play baseball."

"What's baseball?" asked Ron, and we stared at him in disbelief.

"Honestly, Ron!" Hermione rolled her eyes in a way that reminded me of Rosalie. "Baseball is a Muggle sport, as popular in America as Quidditch."

"Cool," he said, though he didn't sound interested.

"I didn't know that vampires played baseball," commented Hermione.

"Hell yeah, we do!" shouted Emmet, causing everyone in the courtyard to stare at him. "Don't wizards?" he asked, quieter.

"I played once, years ago at a Muggle school," answered Harry.

"Can we play with you?" asked Hermione eagerly.

"You two can watch," Alice allowed, looking at her and Ron.

"What about me?" asked Harry.

"You'll be in detention."

"Huh? No I won't!"

"Well, not yet," said Alice, "but in Defence Against the Dark Arts."

"What did I do?" he demanded.

"You will lose your temper with Professor Umbridge, no thanks to Jazzy!"

"Hey!" I exclaimed, but she just shrugged.

"Oh!" she cried suddenly, her face lighting up, "Cho Chang's coming to talk to you, Harry!"

Harry blushed a little, making Emmett and I boom with laughter.

"We'll give you some privacy," said Edward, steering Bella away and glaring at the rest of us til we followed."

After lunch, we had Muggle Studies, where we told Carlisle and Esme about baseball.

"Oh, that's wonderful!" said Esme, "And Ron and Hermione are going to watch! That was very nice of you to invite them!"

That's what I love most about Esme. She treats us all like her own children.

The classroom quickly filled up and Carlisle told us to sit down.

"Hello, everyone," began Esme, smiling at her class, "my name is Professor Cullen and I will be teaches Muggles Studies this year. This is Doctor Cullen and he will be helping me."

There was a soft tap on the door and a sixth year student poked his head in.

"Yes, dear?" asked Esme.

"Um, I'm supposed to find Doctor Cullen. Madam Pomfrey needs his help in the hospital wing."

"Of course!" Carlisle smiled and followed the student out of the classroom, closing the door gently behind him.

Everyone's attention returned to Esme who continued speaking. "This year in Muggle Studies we will be looking at differences between Muggle and wizard activities, starting with sports."

She paused to wink at me and Alice. I grinned back.

"So, in the wizarding world the main sport is Quidditch. Who can name a Muggle sport?"

A couple of hands shot up, including mine and Alice's.

Esme nodded at a blonde girl. "Hannah?"

"I've heard of one…I think it's called tennis?"

"That's right!" Esme wrote 'tennis' on the blackboard. "Well done, dear. Five points to Hufflepuff! Who else has one? Dean?"

"Football," the boy replied at once.

"Very good. Also known as soccer in other parts of the world. Five points to Gryffindor! Jasper?"

"Baseball!" I practically yelled.

Esme smiled and wrote it on the board. "Five points to Ravenclaw. Alice, dear?"

"Shopping!" she squealed, and a few people giggled.

"Alice, I know you love your shopping, but it isn't really a sport."

Alice pouted. "Yeah, but Jazz said mine already!"

Another wave of amusement rippled through the class.

"I'm sorry, dear," apologised Esme, "Can you think of anything else?"

We left the classroom at the end of the lesson with homework that I knew sweet Esme loathed giving us, and made our way to Defence Against the Dark Arts. We shared the class with the rest of our family, as well as Harry, Ron, and Hermione.

Professor Umbridge entered the classroom and Alice winced. I felt her horror at the fluffy pink cardigan.

"Good afternoon!" she exclaimed to her class. A couple of people replied, and Umbridge was disappointed. "Good afternoon, class!" she said again.

"Good afternoon, Professor Umbridge!" replied everyone obediently. Alice and Emmett were the only ones who said it brightly, and Emmett even added a salute.

Umbridge was satisfied. "Wands away, please!"

I could feel the class' disappointment as I pulled out my old-fashioned feather quill, bottle of ink, and parchment.

Umbridge gave us a short lecture on our 'course aims' and told us to read the first chapter _"Defensive Magical Theory."_

It took me thirty seconds to read and memorise the whole chapter, so I looked around, boredom coming at me from all directions. Boredom. Boredom. Boredom. Determination? Surprise? Curiosity? I lifted my head to see where these emotions were coming from.

The surprise and curiosity came from the Harry Potter kid, who was staring questioningly at the bushy-haired human girl, Hermione, her hand raised straight in the air. Umbridge felt slightly irritated, but otherwise ignored her.

"What's she doing?" I asked Alice in a whisper.

"You'll see in a minute," she whispered back.

I felt the class' curiosity rise as more and more people noticed the persistent girl. It was a few minutes before Umbridge finally addressed her.

"Did you want to ask something about the chapter, dear?" she asked innocently, but I knew she was annoyed.

"Not about the chapter, no," replied the girl politely.

"Well, we're reading just now." The woman smiled, revealing particularly pointy teeth, for a human. "If you have any other queries we can deal with them at the end of class." She was pleased with herself, but Hermione was still determined.

"I've got a query about your course aims."

Umbridge was both surprised and annoyed. "And your name is?"

"Hermione Granger."

"Well, Miss Granger," began Umbridge sweetly, "I think the course aims are perfectly clear if you read them through carefully."

"Well I don't. You haven't said anything about using defensive spells."

Alice giggled quietly. "Watch what happens next!"

"Using defensive spells?" Umbridge laughed nervously. "Why, I can't imagine any situation arising in my classroom that would require you to use a defensive spell, Miss Granger. You surely aren't expecting to be attacked during class?"

"We're not going to use magic?" interrupted the boy with red hair.

"Students raise their hands when they wish to speak in my class, Mr..?"

"Weasley," said the boy, raising his hand.

Feeling satisfied, Umbridge turned away, only to be confronted by three more raised hands. She nodded at Jacob. "Your name?"

"Jacob Cullen, and I can think of a situation. Say a whole lot of bloodsucking vampires showed up and started killing everyone?"

Almost everyone in the class started laughing, including said bloodsucking vampires. Umbridge, on the other hand, was not amused.

"Well, Mr Cullen, that situation would be worth considering were it even faintly realistic. As it happens, the Ministry of Magic is monitoring the vampire movement and I can assure you that Hogwarts is safe from that particular…species."

"They aren't doing a very good job of that," I muttered to Alice and she smiled up at me.

Hermione had her hand raised again, as did Harry. Ignoring Harry, Umbridge turned back to Hermione.

"Yes, Miss Granger? You wanted to ask something else?"

"Yes. Surely the whole point of Defence Against the Dark Arts is to practise defensive spells?"

Umbridge's irritation was growing rapidly, but when she spoke again her voice was as sweet as ever. "Are you a Ministry-trained educational expert, Miss Granger?"

"No, but-"

"Well then, I'm afraid you are not qualified to decide what the 'whole point' of any class is. Wizards much older and cleverer than you…" I had to chuckle at that "…have devised our new programme of study. You will be learning about defence in a secure, risk-free way-"

"What use is that?" interrupted Harry, "If we're going to be attacked, it won't be in a…"

"_Hand,_ Mr Potter!"

This Umbridge woman was starting to get on my nerves. I raised my hand, as did several others.

"And your name is?" she asked one boy.

"Dean Thomas."

"Well, Mr Thomas?"

"Well, it's like Harry said, isn't it? If we're going to be attacked, it won't be risk-free."

"I repeat, do you expect to be attacked during my classes?"

"Well, like Jacob said, the situation is possible."

"Possible, yes, but the chances are miniscule!"

I used my power to influence Umbridge to let me speak. "Your name?"

"Jasper Hale, ma'am," I answered politely.

"Yes, Mr Hale?"

"You talk about learning defence in a risk-free situation, but survival is all about taking risks," I said, quoting what I had learnt in the army and from my time with Maria.

Umbridge had nothing to say to this. "I do not wish to criticise the way things have been run in this school," she began, but her emotions told me otherwise, "but you have been exposed to some very irresponsible wizards in this class, very irresponsible indeed – not to mention extremely dangerous half-breeds."

I felt her disgust and hatred when she mentioned half-breeds, and my thoughts went immediately to Nessie and Jacob. Judging by the fury coming from my family, I could tell they were thinking the same. Jacob had positioned himself awkwardly so he was between Renesmee and Umbridge. Edward's fists were clenched and his eyes black. Bella's eyes were flickering from Jacob and Nessie to Umbridge, emanating a mixture of concern and anger. Rosalie was absolutely livid, her face twisted into a snarl. Emmett had accidentally taken a small chunk out of his desk. And me? I was using all my strength restraining myself from funning up to Umbridge and snapping her neck in a fraction of a second. The instinct to protect my family had kicked in and targeted this woman as a threat. I was pulled out of it by a small hand on my elbow.

"Don't worry, Jasper," soothed Alice, "She's just a human. She can't hurt them."

"I know," I murmured, "I'm okay."

"Then why do I still see you killing Umbridge?" she asked, smiling slightly. I smiled back and she patted my arm. "That's better."

Now that I was in control of myself, I managed to calm the others down just enough. It was only then that I realised Umbridge was still arguing with her class.

"I repeat, as long as you've studied the theory hard enough," she was saying, but was interrupted once again by Harry.

"And what good's theory going to be in the real world?"

Umbridge was beyond irritated now. I also detected a trace of fear amidst the anger. "This is school, Mr Potter," she murmured, "not the real world."

"So we're not supposed to be prepared for what's waiting for us out there?"

"There is nothing waiting out there, Mr Potter," Umbridge insisted.

"Oh yeah?" Harry was suddenly furious, and his temper was still rising.

"Who do you imagine wants to attack children like yourselves?"

My family cringed at being called children, but Harry was already speaking again. "Hmm, let's think…Maybe…_Lord Voldemort?"_

I instinctively flinched away from the amount of shock and fear at the sound of the name. Was this guy seriously that evil? Umbridge, on the other hand, was pleased with herself.

"Ten points from Gryffindor, Mr Potter."

I was sure even the humans could feel the tension coming off Umbridge and Harry.

"Now, let me make a few things quite plain." Umbridge spoke calmly, leaning her weight on the desk. "You have been told that a certain Dark wizard has returned from the dead…"

"He wasn't dead!" Harry was so angry that I was trying not to shout at Umbridge myself. "But yeah, he's returned!"

Umbridge told him off loudly and resumed speaking to the class. "As I was saying, you have been informed that a certain Dark wizard is at large once again. _This is a lie!"_

"It is _not_ a lie!" retorted Harry, "I saw him, I fought him!"

I had to grip my desk, denting it in the process, to keep myself in my seat.

"Detention, Mr Potter!" cried Umbridge, "Tonight. Five o'clock. My office. I repeat, _this is a lie."_

She continued speaking, but I barely noticed. Beside me, Alice was murmuring to me softly.

"He's so angry!" I said, "It's too much!"

"You'll be okay, Jazz!"

At that moment, Harry rose from his seat. "So, according to you, Cedric Diggory dropped dead of his own accord, did he?" he demanded.

The emotions were overwhelming. Grief, fear and anger mixed with curiosity and fascination. I began to send out waves of calm, focusing mainly on Harry and Umbridge.

"Cedric Diggory's death was a tragic accident," she replied.

"It was murder." Harry wasn't quite so angry now, but his voice was as cold as ever. "Voldemort killed him and you know it."

Judging by Umbridge's fury, he had finally crossed the line. I calmed her down before she started screaming at him, but I must've hit her with a bit much, for she spoke sweetly. "Come here, Mr Potter, dear."

Harry stormed up to her desk where he was given a letter to take to Professor McGonagall. He slammed the door shut behind him, and the loud bang echoed into silence.

Umbridge smiled sweetly at her class. "Please resume your reading. Page five, chapter one; _Basics for Beginners."_


	6. 9 Baseball on the Quidditch Pitch

**Disclaimer:**** I don't own Harry Potter or Twilight. **

**List of POVs:**

**Bella – BPOV**

**Edward – EPOV**

**Renesmee – NPOV**

**Jacob – JPOV**

**Alice – APOV**

**Jasper – JasPOV**

**Emmet – EmPOV**

**Rosalie – RPOV**

**Harry – HPOV**

**Ron – RonPOV**

**Hermione - HerPOV**

**Thankyou soooo much to everyone who reviewed! I'm glad you're all enjoying it so far!**

**9. Baseball on the Quidditch Pitch**

**RPOV**

"Hurry up, Rosie!" shouted Emmett, jumping up and down like a little kid, "Alice said six-thirty!"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming!"

I'd barely taken two steps towards the common room door when the Draco boy stopped me. "Where are you going?" he drawled, "I could keep you company."

I held back a growl. The boy was really starting to piss me off. Would he ever leave me alone? Luckily, I'd learnt enough about the Slytherins to get rid of him.

"I'm going with _Emmett_ to play baseball, a Muggle sport, with my family, including a couple of Gryffindors. Oh, and I think that red-haired boy and the Hermione girl are going to be there."

I smiled pleasantly and followed Emmett out of the common room. Behind me, I heard Draco grumbling to his friends.

"Someone who looks like that shouldn't be hanging around those people! Filthy Mudbloods are a bad influence if you ask me…"

Emmett draped his arm around my shoulders and growled.

"Let's just go," I muttered, and we went to meet our family.

**JPOV**

I hated playing baseball with the Cullens! I'm so much slower in my human form, and it's not easy playing as a giant wolf, due to a lack of opposable thumbs.

Renesmee reached up to place her hand on my cheek. _What's wrong?_

"Nothing," I replied, smiling down at her. She was so beautiful! Even more perfect than her vampire family's inhuman beauty. She studied my with those amazing chocolate brown eyes she had inherited from her mother, and I knew it was pointless lying to her.

"Are you sure you want to go?"

"What matters is that _you_ want to go, and I'm not going to ruin that for you," I told her.

"I know you don't like playing, Jake. You're too sweet for your own good!" She took my hand gently. "You don't have to play with us. You could always watch. Help Esme umpire, or keep Ron and Hermione company. It would even up the teams, too."

I pulled Renesmee's warm hand to my face and kissed it. "Have I ever mentioned just how incredible you are?"

She laughed. "Once or twice," she replied, "Come on. Let's go!"

**APOV**

While we waited for the others to turn up, I raced Jasper around the Quidditch pitch, giggling. I knew he'd had a hard day, so I concentrated on having fun, so he could absorb my happy emotions. And baseball was the perfect way of doing that!

Everything had just disappeared, so it was clear that Jacob and Nessie were on their way. I ran over to where the gear was and Jasper and I threw the ball back and forth. Of course he and Emmett had made sure to bring the baseball bat and ball whilst packing for Hogwarts! They, especially, loved their baseball; more so than anyone else in the family.

I was suddenly pulled into a vision of the Gryffindor common room and came out of it in horror.

"Oh, Bella!" I moaned. Hadn't I taught her anything? "What are you wearing?"

**RonPOV**

I don't know why Hermione is so eager to watch a Muggle sport. It can't be anywhere near as good as Quidditch!

"Explain it to me again," I told her, as we walked to the common room after dinner.

Hermione sighed in exasperation. "I've already explained it a dozen times! Basically, the batter has a bat, sort of like the Beaters in Quidditch, and the pitcher throws the ball for them to hit. Then the batter has to run around the field, touching the bases as they go. Meanwhile, the fielders try to catch the ball and touch it back to the starting base before the batter gets back."

"Right," I said slowly. It sounded pretty boring to me. "And how is that better than Quidditch?"

She just rolled her eyes.

We entered the common room to find Bella and Edward already waiting for us, dressed casually in Muggle clothes and looking as amazing as ever.

"Hey guys!" smiled Bella, who had her arm around Edward's waist, "Are you ready to go?"

"Yeah!" Hermione nodded eagerly.

"Well before we go, you should put on a cloak or something. Alice said it won't rain, but you'll get cold."

I ran upstairs and rummaged through my suitcase for my thick cloak, before running back down. Edward threw me and Hermione Muggle hats with the letter 'C' embellished on them. I saw that he and Bella were both wearing hats the same.

"'C' for Cullen?" asked Hermione.

Bella grinned and nodded. 'That's right! Welcome to Team Cullen! Let's go!"

We walked down to the Quidditch pitch, Edward and Bella holding hands while Hermione and I trailed after them shyly.

Alice immediately stormed up to Bella and started lecturing her on her choice of outfit. Bella just sighed theatrically and winked at us. I didn't get it. With her cream jumper and navy tights, I thought she looked amazing. It must be a girl thing.

I noticed Edward staring at me with an amused expression on his face. Oh. Right.

_Get out of my head, vampire!_ I mentally shouted and he chuckled. I looked away, annoyed, and saw Professor Cullen walking over to us with a kind smile on her lips.

"Alice, honey, please leave Bella alone. She looks lovely. Why don't you go and help Emmett mark the bases?" she suggested.

"Okay!" said Alice brightly. She was at the other end of the pitch with her brother two seconds later.

"Thanks, Esme," grinned Bella in relief.

Professor Cullen laughed, imitating bells chiming. "No problem, Bella. You and Edward can go and start playing. I'll take Ron and Hermione to the side."

Edward took hold of Bella's hand and they ran gracefully to everyone else. Professor Cullen smiled at us. "You two can watch with me."

"You aren't playing?" I asked.

"No," she replied, "I prefer to umpire. I think Jacob's going to join us. He doesn't enjoy playing as much as the rest of my family."

She led us to the edge of the pitch, just below the stands. Jacob kissed Renesmee's forehead before running over to us and sprawling on the grassy ground.

"They're playing boys versus girls," he informed us, grinning, "You two just wait! You've never seen anything like it!"

"I advise you to sharpen your eyes," suggested Professor Cullen, "Watch carefully. It can be difficult for humans to see what's going on."

"Thanks, Professor," replied Hermione, leaning forward eagerly.

"Please call me Esme," she smiled, "I'm your friend right now, not your teacher."

"Are you guys ready?" Alice called across the pitch. A second later, the air cracked with thunder. Edward grinned widely and picked up the bat, slightly smaller than the ones used in Quidditch. He held it easily over his shoulder, his eyes staying on Alice who had the ball.

A flash of lightning lit the sky just as Alice threw the ball forward in a blur of movement. Edward swung the bat and smashed it into the ball. The resulting sound of the two objects colliding was like another crack of thunder that echoed over our heads.

I felt my mouth drop over involuntarily, and I looked next to me to see Hermione's reaction. She was watching the ball soar through the sky with an awed expression.

"This is very different to how I remember it," she commented blankly.

I looked back at the game. Edward was running, like Hermione said, so all I could see of him was a black streak. Meanwhile, the girls were positioning themselves to catch the ball, which was now hurtling toward the ground. Edward was almost back to where he started. I saw Renesmee run a couple of steps before crouching down to spring. She leapt higher than any human could've and caught the ball in midair. Edward reached what Hermione called 'home base' in the same second. The two of them looked at Professor Cullen expectantly.

"Out!" she declared, her voice ringing clear across the pitch. The girls congratulated Renesmee on her catch while the boys grinned to hide their disappointment.

Beside me, Jacob jumped to his feet with a whoop. "Yeah! Go Ness!"

Edward passed Emmett the bat and before I even registered what was happening, there was another loud crash and Emmett was running. I looked around to try and spot the ball, only to see it fly through one of the Quidditch goalposts. Bella flung herself onto the post and began climbing up it agilely. When she was about halfway up, she let go with one hand and swung around to catch the ball. Holding it high, she dropped to the ground, landing lightly in a crouch, and looked over to see Emmett reach home base.

"Out!" called Professor Cullen.

Bella grinned cheekily. "Bad luck, Em!" she teased.

The game went on this way for a couple of hours, and I actually found myself enjoying it. I never thought it would happen, but Quidditch had met its match.

"I wish I could play like that!" I thought aloud.

Jacob growled like a dog might and looked at me. "Are you sure about that?"

"What?" I asked. He'd lost me. Hermione frowned.

"He means that to play like them, you need to become like them," she explained, her eyes hinting at her meaning.

"Ohh!" I said slowly, understanding, "Good point."

There was another crash of thunder and little Alice Cullen ran over to us.

"That was the last of the thunder," she told us, "We'll finish the game next week."

Renesmee skipped up to Jacob and kissed him on the cheek.

"Did you have fun?" he asked her, smiling, and she placed her hand on his cheek.

Alice grinned at us. "What did you think?"

"It was amazing!" Hermione exclaimed, "I've never seen anything like it!"

I yawned widely and Professor Cullen looked at me in concern. "Oh! I forgot we've kept you up! You must be so tired!"

"Just a little," I admitted. I hadn't realised how late it was.

"Edward and Bella can take you to your common room," said Alice, "You're going to run into Severus Snape and he'll give you both detentions if they aren't with you."

"Thanks!"

Alice beamed at Hermione. "You're welcome. Edward! Get your butt over here so Ron and Hermione can go to bed!"

She spoke in a normal tone even though they were at the other end of the pitch, but before I could blink, Edward and Bella were standing next to her, laughing.

"Patience, Alice!" Edward teased. She stuck out her tongue in reply.

"Did you two enjoy watching us?" asked Bella.

"Yeah," I replied, "it was great!"

"Better than Quidditch?" asked Edward.

"I think it was, actually," I admitted.

Edward grinned. "Emmett, you owe Jasper twenty bucks!" he called over his shoulder. Alice and Bella laughed.

"They remind me of your brothers," Hermione muttered to me. I groaned. Two was enough!

Edward chuckled. "Relax, Ron. Alice and Rose will keep an eye on them. Are you two ready to go?"

We nodded in unison.

"Well, in that case, we should get going. Goodnight, Esme!"

Professor Cullen hugged both Edward and Bella goodnight.

"Goodnight, Edward. 'Night Bella," said Alice.

"'Night, guys," nodded Jacob.

Edward and Bella turned to Renesmee. Edward kissed her forehead while Bella folded her in a hug. "Goodnight, baby!"

"Sleep well, Nessie!"

"Thanks, Mama. Goodnight, Daddy," replied Renesmee, rolling her eyes at the affection.

Bella stepped back to look at Jacob. "Take care of her. See you in the morning!"

She took Edward's hand in hers and we followed them back to the castle.

"That was amazing!" said Hermione again earnestly.

A smile graced Bella's perfect face. "Thankyou, Hermione. I am very interested in seeing this Quidditch of your now."

"You should try out for the team," I suggested.

Edward grinned crookedly. "I don't think so. We'd have a bit of an advantage over everyone else."

"How so?" asked Hermione, confused.

"For one, I read minds, so I would know the intentions of the other team. The bludgers would break into a million pieces in they hit us, and how would we explain that? If we hit the bludgers, it would probably kill any human they might hit. We have incredible eyesight and reflexes, so that rules out Seeker. Besides," he added with a grin, "I would like to see you get on the team. Alice says you have a fair chance."

I felt myself turn red. I hadn't told anyone about my idea yet, not even Harry or Hermione. I glanced at Hermione, making sure she wasn't laughing. On the contrary, she was beaming.

"That's a brilliant idea, Ron!"

"Don't tell Fred or George," I mumbled under my breath. Bella and Edward laughed.

We turned the corner into a dark corridor lit by flaming torches. Just our luck; Snape was striding towards us.

"Weasley! Granger! What are you doing out of bed so late?" he demanded.

Edward stepped into the corridor behind me. "They were with us, playing a game of baseball. They had my parents' permission."

Snape's lips twisted into a smirk. "That is no excuse! No student is to be out of bed after hours, no exceptions! That goes for you two also, Masen and Swan!"

Bella grimaced. "If you don't mind, Severus, please give up the pretences when it's just us. Technically, we aren't students here and you have no authority over Edward or myself."

It was so strange seeing a teenage girl speaking to Snape this way! She actually called him by his first name!

Edward chuckled and Snape's eyes shot to him. "What is so funny, Mr _Cullen?"_

"Just something Ron was thinking," he replied, still laughing.

Hermione looked at me curiously.

"Very amusing," murmured Snape, not sounding the least bit amused.

"Well, if you excuse us, Severus," smiled Edward, "Bella and I are escorting Ron and Hermione to their dormitories."

"Of course," replied Snape coldly, his dark eyes narrowing as he stepped aside to let us pass.

Edward and Bella glided forward confidently, while Hermione and I kept our heads down. I was sure Snape watched us until we turned the corner, out of sight. Edward glanced at me and nodded.

We found Harry sitting in front of the fire in the common room when we climbed through the portrait hole, textbook open in front of him. He looked up from his essay when we entered. Crap! I'd forgotten about all the homework we had!

"Don't worry, Ron," said Edward, "Bella and I will tutor you if you need."

I turned red. "Thanks," I mumbled.

"How was it?" asked Harry, setting his books aside as we collapsed in the other chairs.

Before I could begin ranting about how cool it was, Hermione said, "It wasn't too bad. What was your detention like?"

He subconsciously moved his right hand out of sight before he answered. "Oh, it was okay, you know."

Edward had tensed up in his armchair, and I heard an animal-like growl rumble in his throat. Bella looked down at him (she was currently perched on his lap) in concern, but Hermione ignored him.

"What did she make you do?" she pressed.

Harry hesitated for a moment. "Lines," he replied.

"Well that doesn't sound too bad."

This time, Edward actually _did_ growl. "Let me see!" he said, reaching his arm out, palm up.

Harry sighed and offered the vampire his right hand. Bella gasped.

"What did she do to you?" she asked, sounding horrified.

I frowned. I didn't see anything wrong with his hand. It was a little pink, maybe, as though he'd been scratching an itch, but other than that it looked fine.

"To your human eyes, maybe," growled Edward, "We can see more clearly than you three."

"That's just horrible!" cried Bella.

"It's fine!" snapped Harry, snatching his hand away.

"Could someone please explain to me and Hermione what's wrong?" I asked exasperated.

All eyes shot to Harry, who looked at his knee. "She has a special quill which uses my blood as ink," he sighed.

Hermione cried out in horror while I just stared at him, my mouth hanging open.

"She makes you cut your own hand open as you write," snarled Bella. The feral sound didn't sound right coming from her lips.

Harry, being the heroic idiot he is, offered us a fake smile. "It's not as bad as it sounds! Honestly, guys!"

"Your thoughts tell me otherwise," said Edward, pushing Bella gently off his knee so he could stand. "I'm going to go have a chat with Dolores Umbridge!"

"Don't!" protested Harry, "I don't want to give her the satisfaction that she's got to me!"

"I don't care! She's got to me already!" he growled, "Ever since her little comment this afternoon about those _'filthy half-breeds!'"_

Bella hissed angrily at the last sentence.

"What's so bad about that?" I wondered, confused.

Edward turned his attention to me. "Have you forgotten the two half-human members of our family?"

To tell the truth, I almost _had_ forgotten about Jacob and Renesmee. "Oh, right!"

"Edward," murmured Bella, touching his arm, "Leave Umbridge be. You won't be able to control yourself! You'll end up doing something you'll regret!"

Edward sighed. "You're right."

He let himself collapse back into the armchair. Bella smiled and leaned down to kiss his forehead. "I love you."

I blushed at their show of affection and looked away, as did Harry and Hermione.

"We should get to bed!" mumbled Hermione, standing up and heading toward the girls' dormitory. "Goodnight, you guys!"

Harry and I stood up too.

"Night."

As I trudged up the stairs, I heard a sweet, unfamiliar tune – a lullaby – being hummed behind me.


	7. 10 An Encounter in the Forest

**Disclaimer:**** I don't own Harry Potter or Twilight. **

**List of POVs:**

**Bella – BPOV**

**Edward – EPOV**

**Renesmee – NPOV**

**Jacob – JPOV**

**Alice – APOV**

**Jasper – JasPOV**

**Emmet – EmPOV**

**Rosalie – RPOV**

**Harry – HPOV**

**Ron – RonPOV**

**Hermione - HerPOV**

**Love the reviews I'm getting! Thanks everyone; you guys are truly awesome!!!**

**This chapter's a bit shorter than the others, so sorry about that. Also contains some swearing and sexual references which gives it the rating.**

**Enjoy!!**

**10. An Encounter in the Forest.**

**BPOV**

Our first week at Hogwarts was really cool, to put it bluntly. The teachers were impressed by how quickly we were progressing and, according to Edward, were considering giving us all our classes with the fifth-years. Edward and I often helped Harry and Ron catch up with their homework, having completed all of ours within ten minutes. The European sky had so far been cloudy, so we didn't have to worry about revealing ourselves in the sunlight just yet. The subjects were all interesting. I, for one, found Care of Magical Creatures in particular fascinating. We were all fast becoming friends with Harry, Ron and Hermione. Emmett, unfortunately, had been spending a bit of time with the Weasley twins whenever he wasn't with Rose. He thought the pair of red-headed humans were hilarious.

"Bella?" asked Hermione uncertainly, approaching the armchair in which I was sitting. I looked up and smiled.

"Hey! What's up?"

She looked embarrassed. "Would you like to help me make hats for the house-elves?"

"Sure," I agreed, knowing full well that she was wasting her time. Edward and I had seen the elf named Dobby collecting all the hats for himself. She looked so excited, however, that I couldn't ruin it for her.

She beamed at me. "Thankyou so much!"

I grinned back. Hermione gave me a large ball of scarlet wool and knitting needles, and I began knitting. No humans were looking in our direction, so I knitted at vampire speed and finished one hat in three minutes.

I became aware of Hermione watching me in awe. "That was quick!"

I laughed lightly. "One of the many perks of being a bloodsucking monster," I joked.

She giggled nervously and I whacked myself on the forehead. "Crap. Sorry, Hermione, I keep forgetting that humans generally don't appreciate those sorts of jokes."

"It's okay." She went back to her knitting and changed the subject. "Where's Edward?"

"He's watching the Quidditch tryouts with Jasper and Emmett," I replied, hiding a smile. We had all known since this morning, thanks to Alice, that Ron would make it onto the team, but refused to tell him.

"I hope Ron does alright," she commented. I didn't say anything.

The only sounds for the next half hour were the clicking of knitting needles, pull of wool, and occasional conversation. Hermione jumped and dropped the hat she was working on when the portrait hole opened up and half of Gryffindor house stormed in, cheering wildly. I grinned as Ron stalked over, clearly pleased with himself.

"Congratulations!" I said loudly over the noise.

"Thanks," he replied proudly.

I felt a pair of smooth arms wrap around me from the back.

"I missed you, love," Edward murmured in my ear.

"Edward!" I exclaimed happily, as he pressed his lips to my throat. "You were only gone an hour," I teased.

"That's far too long without you," he whispered seductively, "You know, the humans will be down here celebrating for a few hours and my dormitory will be empty…"

He trailed off suggestively, but I wouldn't have let him finish anyway. I grabbed his hand and dragged him up the staircase after me with barely a goodbye called to Ron and Hermione over my shoulder.

"Does this seem wrong to you?" I asked forty minutes later, "I mean, in a school and everything with teenage students downstairs."

Edward chuckled softly. "Just a little," he admitted.

We were lying side by side on our stomachs on Edward's four-poster bed, the dark red curtains drawn around us. He reached a hand out to stroke my cheek and I closed my eyes, sighing.

"I love you," I mumbled, holding his hand on my face with my own. I turned my head slightly to kiss the palm of his hand, and was rewarded with the crooked smile I loved.

"I love you, too," he replied. He had told me this every day for the last eleven years, but the words still made me shiver in delight.

The door slammed open suddenly and the delicious scent of human blood reached my nose. Venom pooled in my mouth, which I forced myself to swallow back in regret.

"Oh!" exclaimed Harry, "Shit! Sorry, I'll just go, wait outside, er…"

The door clicked shut and I buried my face in the pillow in embarrassment. Edward drew the curtains around the bed open, and we dressed quickly, gathering up our clothes from all over the floor.

"You can come back in now!" Edward called. The door opened, slowly this time, and Harry entered the room hesitantly, face bright red.

"We are so sorry!" I told him at once. I found myself unable to meet his eyes. "We thought everyone would be celebrating for a while longer!"

I didn't say anything else, as I was out of oxygen and Harry's hand was stained with warm, fresh blood. I covered my mouth and nose and stopped breathing, my black eyes targeted on the blood. It had been a while since I'd hunted.

Edward tore a strip from his bed sheet and threw it to Harry. "Wrap this over your wound!" he instructed.

Harry did as he was told and I hesitantly took a breath. The sweet smell of blood was still in the air, but it was muffled by the bandage. It didn't stop the burning in my throat, however, and I had to restrain myself from attacking.

Edward watched Harry, a frown on his face. "What exactly happened with your scar?" he asked.

Harry looked up, still pressing down on his hand. "I don't know. Umbridge touched my hand and it just hurt without warning."

"Wait," I said, confused, "What?"

"My scar hurts sometimes," he explained, "I don't know why. It could be my connection," he said the word bitterly, "with Voldemort or when he's close by."

"And you think Dolores Umbridge is being possessed," stated Edward.

"It's happened before," he shrugged.

"Harry," said Edward firmly, "I have seen Umbridge's mind. It makes me despise her for it, but she thinks for herself. She is definitely not possessed."

Harry still looked doubtful and Edward shook his head in frustration. "Come on, Bella. Let's go hunt."

He took my hand and I followed him out of the castle. We ran together silently across the lawn until we came to the cover of the forest. There were so many strange, unfamiliar scents around us!

I smelled something delicious and swung my head around to face the direction it was coming from. It was definitely animalistic, but there was something else that was almost as appealing as human blood.

With a nod from Edward, we both took off running towards the smell, keeping pace with each other. Very soon, we heard about a dozen hoof beats. Assuming they were the source of the smell, we leapt into a clearing to attack…and froze.

"Edward!" I gasped in shock, "They're human!"

The three pairs of human eyes snapped to look at us, and bows and arrows were drawn.

"Please calm down," said Edward to the creatures, "My wife and I have no intention of harming you."

"You are not students," stated the male at the front of the trio.

"Not technically, but we are currently guests at the school. My name is Edward Cullen and my wife is Bella."

I saw comprehension in the creatures' eyes.

"The vampires!" There was no hostility in the cry, only surprise and understanding.

"Clearly you know of us," said Edward, "but we know very little of you. At first, when we picked up your scent, we were unsure whether you human or animal. I see now you are a mixed-breed race."

"The word you are looking for is 'centaur.' We are part human and part horse, as you can see for yourselves."

"Well, we apologize for intruding. Bella and I were hunting in the area and didn't know of your kind. You have nothing to fear from our family." The centaurs looked doubtful at Edward's words, so he continued. "We abstain from human blood. As you are part-human yourselves you will come to no harm by us. You have our word."

The first centaur studied us in silence for a minute before nodding. "Very well. You may continue hunting, but watch out for unicorns. To drink the blood of such a pure creature will curse you for the rest of your immortal lives."

"Thankyou for the warning," smiled Edward, turning his back on the creatures. "Come on, Bella."

We ran until we came across a small herd of ordinary deer. We took down a couple each before heading back to the castle.

It was very late when we got back to the common room, and it was almost empty.

Edward sat in one of the armchairs by the dying fire and I joined him, curling up on his lap. We sat in silence all night, enjoying the peace of each other's company, while the humans in the dormitories above us slept.


	8. 11 New Friends

**Disclaimer:**** I don't own Harry Potter or Twilight. **

**List of POVs:**

**Bella – BPOV**

**Edward – EPOV**

**Renesmee – NPOV**

**Jacob – JPOV**

**Alice – APOV**

**Jasper – JasPOV**

**Emmet – EmPOV**

**Rosalie – RPOV**

**Harry – HPOV**

**Ron – RonPOV**

**Hermione - HerPOV**

**Sorry for the late update!!! Thanks for the reviews I'm still getting.**

**This is probably one of my favourite chapters because it shows a lot of the growing friendship between Harry and the Cullens, especially Bella, as you might have guessed from the title. Lol enjoy!!**

**11. New Friends**

**HPOV**

I woke up in the morning to early rays of sunlight streaming through the window. Everyone else was still asleep and only Edward Cullen's unslept-in bed was empty. I blushed when I remembered what I'd walked in on the previous night.

I dressed quickly and made my way to the common room with my writing equipment, where I found my favourite squashy old armchair occupied.

"Hi, Harry!" called Bella, "You're up early!"

"Um, yeah. I was going to write a letter while everyone's still asleep." I held up the parchment and quill for her to see.

"Great! Come sit down. I might write to my dad now that I think of it."

I sat opposite her. "Where's your boyfriend?" I asked.

Bella looked kind of guilty. "Um, well, he's gone to talk to Carlisle. About Umbridge and, um, you." She trailed off apologetically.

"Why?" I asked in annoyance.

"It isn't personal," she assured me quickly, "It's just that Carlisle asked Edward to keep an eye on her anyway, and seeing as she's cutting your hand open…Don't worry, they won't tell Dumbledore!"

"Right," I muttered, "I should get started on this letter."

Bella ran upstairs, only to return a second later with a quill and parchment of her own. She started writing immediately, while I just stared at my parchment, drawing a blank. Bella offered to help me once she'd finished her own letter a whole two minutes after she'd started, but I didn't accept until an hour and a dozen scrunched up pieces of parchment later. It didn't take very long at all after that.

Once we were done, Bella read through it and laughed.

"Snuffles?" she asked.

I felt the blood rush to my cheeks. "It's what we call him when he's a dog so nobody knows what we're talking about."

"Clever," she giggled, "Okay, I think you're good. How do we send it? I can't imagine the postman just walking up to the castle."

"My owl, Hedwig, will deliver it to him. You can use one of the school owls for the letter to your dad."

"Owls? That's really cool. I suppose there's an owl-house or something?"

I nodded. "The Owlery is at the top of one of the towers."

"Lead the way then."

We left the common room and were halfway down the corridor when Peeves, the school poltergeist, made an appearance. I didn't see what happened. One second the bust of Paracelsus was falling towards Bella's head and I opened my mouth to shout out a warning. A second later there was a loud crash and the statue was a pile of stone chips littered around Bella's feet. Peeves cackled with laughter until he realised she was unhurt. The look Bella gave the poltergeist was terrifying, and a loud growl was building up in her chest. Even Peeves looked frightened.

"Run and hide now," she threatened, "before my husband finds out about this!"

Peeves didn't need any convincing and flew away before she'd finished speaking.

I was impressed. "I've never seen Peeves scared before."

Bella laughed, snapping out of scary-vampire-mode.

"Thanks. I assume that was a compliment?"

"It was." Something else she had said sunk in. "Hang on, you and Edward are married? I thought he was your boyfriend."

She grinned. "It's another way of keeping up human appearances. We're supposed to be teenagers, remember? Alice and Jasper, and Emmett and Rosalie are all married too."

"What about Jacob and Renesmee?" I wondered.

"Absolutely not!" she replied quickly, "Nessie is younger than she appears. She's still just my baby!"

I still couldn't believe that Bella, who looked just a few years older than me, had a daughter.

"So how old is she really?"

"She actually turns eleven this Wednesday. Edward and I are throwing her a party. You'll have to come, as will Ron and Hermione."

"Really?" I asked. I couldn't help feeling a little honoured.

"Of course! You three are our friends now. Nessie will love for you to be there, and knowing Alice, the party will be special."

"Well, that would be, er, cool."

Bella hesitated at the door of the brightly sunlit Owlery.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

She chewed nervously on her bottom lip. "The, um, the sunlight," she muttered.

"Oh! It doesn't burn you, does it?"

She laughed. "No, not at all. I just don't want to frighten you. It can be a bit…surprising."

I shrugged. "Don't worry about scaring me," I told her, full of curiosity.

She laughed again and walked gracefully into the circular room. I couldn't help it; I gasped. Bella's white skin shone like diamonds in the sunlight, throwing patterns over the walls.

She smiled at my shocked expression. "That was my initial reaction when I first saw Edward like this," she explained, "It's conspicuous, right?"

I laughed numbly. "Yeah. Even in a magic school," I agreed.

After a minute she laughed again. "Don't you have a letter to send?"

I'd been staring. I turned away quickly, blushing, and scanned the rafters for Hedwig.

"There you are! Get down here; I've got a letter for you." Hedwig flew down to land on my shoulder, watching Bella curiously. "Er, Bella, this is my owl, Hedwig."

"She's beautiful!" gasped the vampire.

"You can stroke her if you like," I offered, but she was quick to shake her head.

"I don't think she'll appreciate that. Most animals shy away from our kind. They sense we're dangerous."

"Oh, okay." I gave Hedwig the letter to clasp in her beak and took her to the window. "Safe flight."

She launched herself into the air and flew away. I then called one of the school owls down, as they wouldn't go near Bella. She handed me the letter, which I glanced at before giving it to the owl. Written on the front, in beautiful script was the address;

_Charlie Swan_

_Forks, Washington, _

_USA_

"This is your dad?" I asked.

"Yes. It's been a while since I last saw him."

"Same with my parents," I muttered dully.

Bella didn't offer any words of sympathy, only nodded in understanding. She stood at the window with me and watched the owl fly away. That was when I saw the creature flying over the treetops. It was the same creature that had been pulling the carriages; the thing that only Luna Lovegood and I had seen. I looked at Bella and saw her eyes following the creature as it flew in a circle before disappearing into the trees.

"You can see it?" I asked her desperately.

"Uh huh," she replied, "Everyone in my family can." She tensed up suddenly. "Someone's coming! I have to hide!"

I looked at her sparkling skin in alarm. Before I could say anything, she jumped out the window onto the tower roof.

The door opened and I felt my heart stutter when Cho Chang walked in. "Hi!"

She looked surprised to see me standing there. "Oh, hi!"

We chatted lightly while she tied her mother's birthday present to her chosen owl's leg. Cho mentioned my detention with Umbridge…and called me _brave!_

Then Filch, the Hogwarts caretaker, ruined it all by bursting into the room and accusing me of ordering Dungbombs. Cho helped me out of the situation, defending me until he reluctantly turned away.

"Thanks," I muttered, feeling my face heat up. Cho was quite pink herself.

"No problem. Well, I'll…I'll see you around, Harry."

"Yeah, see you."

She left the Owlery, with me just standing there like an idiot.

"You like her," grinned Bella from beside me, making me jump.

I blushed darker.

"And she likes you, too," she added.

"How can you tell?"

Bella laughed. "You should've heard her heart race when she saw you."

I shook my head in denial. "She was surprised. She didn't expect anyone to be up here!"

She arched one perfect eyebrow. "For the whole five minutes she spoke to you?"

I couldn't let myself hope. "Her boyfriend just died, Bella!"

She made a face. "Yeah, I heard about that. But it doesn't change how she feels. I doubt you'll ever hear anyone say this again, but trust the vampire, Harry!"

She laughed as she went to the door. She paused to pick up a feather from the floor and smiled at it in her hand; white on white. "Feathers," she sighed as though remembering some old joke, before pocketing it and holding the door open for me. "Are you coming or not? It stinks in here!"

I grinned and followed Bella down to the Entrance Hall, where she left me to join my friends for breakfast.

The rest of the day went badly. Quidditch practice ended with Fred and George escorting a blood-soaked Katie to the hospital wing. Returning to the common room, Ron and I faced a mountain of homework and disapproving Hermione. Ron was already in a bad mood and stormed off to bed early.

Fred and George flopped into the chairs across from us. Hermione raised her eyebrows suspiciously.

"So are you two still hanging out with the new kids?" asked Fred.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Edward and Bella watching us.

"You mean the Cullens? Yeah, they're cool."

George snorted. "Weird is more like it."

"Why do you say that?" I asked them.

"When we took Katie to the hospital wing, after Quidditch practice, you know," began George.

"Alice and Jasper were in there, talking to Doctor Cullen," Fred continued, "and so we took Katie in and the two of them just froze!"

"They didn't even seem to be breathing, they were so still!"

"It was weird," added Fred.

"Anyway, Jasper wouldn't take his eyes off Katie until Alice grabbed his arm. She said something like, 'No, Jasper, you can't!' then she blocked her nose and they left!"

"But the weirdest thing…" he paused dramatically, "when they went past, Jasper just glared at Katie. Seriously, he looked really angry, like he was going to attack her or something!"

"It was seriously freaky."

I exchanged a worried glance with Hermione.

"So the stories about the Cullen freaks have finally started," said someone behind us. I looked around to see Edward and Bella grinning at us.

"What took so long?" continued Edward, "We've already been here a whole week!"

The twins were dumbstruck. "We, uh…"

Edward chuckled. "Just don't let the wrong ones spread."

The sun was still shining the next day, so Edward and Bella stayed inside and helped me and Ron with our homework.

"Don't get used to this," Bella warned us, "We won't always be able to help you guys."

Hermione approached us at half past eleven that night, shooting us glares.

"You two really shouldn't help them," she told Edward and Bella, "They ought to do it themselves. It will teach them a lesson for not doing it sooner."

The vampires laughed at her disapproval.

"Really, we don't mind!" said Bella, "We've got, literally, all the time in the world."

Edward's head snapped up suddenly in the direction of the window. The rest of us followed his gaze.

"Isn't that Hermes?" asked Hermione in surprise.

Ron nodded in amazement. "What's Percy writing to me for?"

He crossed to the window to let the owl in. Hermes flew to the table, keeping a distance from Edward and Bella, and held out the letter tied to his leg. "He flew away as soon as the letter was unfastened.

Ron opened it and began to read. Whatever was written clearly wasn't to his taste, and he frowned. As he read, Edward was muttering something too quickly for me to hear, and his and Bella's faces darkened. Once he'd finished reading, Hermione and I read it together.

_**Insert letter here – pp266-268 HPOOTP**_

I couldn't believe the words that jumped out at me. I stared at the letter dumbly, then looked up at the others.

Ron snatched the parchment off me and tore it to pieces. "He. Is. The. World's. Biggest. Git!"

With the last word, he threw the fragments into the fire, where they shrivelled up into ash.

"Your _brother_ wrote that?" asked Bella in disgust.

Ron nodded silently.

I stared at the fire gloomily, thinking.

"Are you alright, Harry?" asked Bella gently.

I was about to answer when I saw something in the fire that couldn't have been there. I blinked and it was gone. I must've imagined it.

"You didn't imagine it," muttered Edward, "I saw him too."

"Him?" asked Hermione, "What are you..? Oh!"

Sirius' head was sitting in the middle of the flames, grinning at us.

Bella cried out in surprise. "Is this another one of those Floo Powder tricks?"

Edward smiled in amusement and nodded. "I've been hearing his thoughts for a couple of seconds every hour. I was beginning to get very confused."

"You've been popping into the fire every hour?" I laughed.

"Just to see if the coast was clear."

"Nobody saw him," Edward assured Hermione, who was looking anxious.

"But what are you doing here?" I asked.

"Answering your letter," Sirius replied.

Ron and Hermione looked at me accusingly.

"I forgot," I replied honestly, "But I made sure no one would be able to understand it."

"I helped," put in Bella, "It was quite good."

"It was, yes," agreed Sirius, "Now, your scar…"

Edward rolled his eyes.

"Well, I know it can't be fun when it hurts," continued Sirius, "but I don't think it's anything to worry about. Now Voldemort's back it's bound to hurt more often."

"So you don't think it had anything to do with Umbridge?"

"I already told you," said Edward, "I've read her mind and watched her closely over the last week. She isn't possessed and she isn't a Death Eater."

Sirius nodded. "I've heard of her. She' got a nasty reputation. You should hear Remus talk about her!"

"Does Lupin know her?" I asked quickly.

"Not directly, but she apparently loathes part-humans…" he broke off at Edward and Bella's furious snarls.

"Such as shape-shifters and half-vampires?" growled Edward.

"Sirius," began Bella in a pleading tone, "you must tell us; is she a threat to our daughter?"

Sirius gazed at her for a moment, and Edward, hearing his thoughts, let out an enraged growl.

"I won't lie to you," he muttered finally, "If Dolores Umbridge finds out what Renesmee really is, she will want her killed. Same goes for Jacob."

Bella made a strangled sort of cry and Edward was quick to comfort her, his eyes black.

"It's okay, love! Renesmee and Jacob have eight full-vampires to protect them! Umbridge is just a weak little human! They'll be fine!"

Hermione was watching them with some sort of strong emotion on her face. "We'll watch out for them too, guys," she said unexpectedly.

"Yeah, that's right!" agreed Ron, "If Umbridge wants to hurt one of you, she'll have to get through us first!"

"We won't let her hurt them," I finished firmly.

Edward and Bella surprised us by laughing.

"That is such a human notion," Bella chuckled, "But that's real sweet, you three. We appreciate it."

"Back to the subject," said Sirius, "Was there anything else you wanted to ask, Harry?"

"Have you heard any news on Hagrid?" I asked quickly.

He frowned. "Nobody's really sure – he was supposed to be back by now. But don't worry! I'm sure he's fine!"

We weren't convinced, and Bella reassured us.

"If you're really worried, we can ask Alice to keep an eye on this Hagrid's future. She might be able to tell you if he's okay."

Hermione sighed in relief. "Really? That would be wonderful!"

"Like I said, I'm sure he's fine," said Sirius, "By the way, when's your next Hogsmeade weekend? I mean, we got away with the dog disguise at the station, right? I thought maybe I could…"

"No!" I interrupted loudly, and he looked instantly hurt.

"Didn't you see the Daily Prophet?" asked Hermione.

"That's nothing to worry about. They're always guessing where I am."

"But we think they've got it right this time!" I insisted, "We think Malfoy and his father may have recognised you!"

Sirius looked at Edward inquisitively.

"I didn't hear anyone thinking about you," he shrugged, "but I was trying to block everyone out…Alice in particular."

"It's still too risky!" I said firmly.

Sirius looked at me coolly. "You're less like your father than I thought. The risk is what would have appealed to James."

I felt like I'd been hit in the stomach. "Look…" I began.

"Well, I have to go. I'll write another time. Maybe organise another fire visit. If you want to risk it, that is."

His mocking tone echoed in my head, and he disappeared.

"He didn't mean it," Edward told me quietly, "He was just pissed that he doesn't get to see you enough."

"Right," I muttered.

Ron yawned widely. "What's the time?"

Edward glanced at his watch. "Late. Bedtime for the humans, would you say, Bella?"

She grinned. "I think so. They look asleep on their feet to me."

We went upstairs to bed and, to my surprise, Edward and Bella followed us.

"What're you doing?" asked Ron as Edward lay down with his arms around Bella.

"Not what you're thinking," Edward replied, laughing quietly, "We just want to spend a night around humans for a change."

"Goodnight, you two," whispered Bella.

It wasn't long before I was fast asleep.

I was surprised to see all of the Cullens waiting outside our History of Magic classroom the next morning.

"Professor Dumbledore has fixed our timetables so we have all our classes with the fifth-years," Edward explained.

"How come?" asked Ron.

"We are advancing quickly through our classes," replied Alice.

"But mainly, we think, so we can keep an eye on you kids," grinned Bella.

We took our seats and Professor Binns floated into the room.

"I wonder if Umbridge will be inspecting any of our classes," I said.

Alice turned in her seat in front of me. "Divination," she told us.

"What will that be like?" asked Hermione.

Alice grimaced. "Not pretty. Poor Sybil Trelawney."

"That bad?"

She nodded solemnly, and then brightened up. "By the way, if you don't start paying attention to Professor Binns, I see you failing your next assignment."

We quickly started taking notes.

In Potions, I got my essay in moonstones back, marked with a 'D' for 'Dreadful.' I put in extra effort for my Strengthening Solution, and it didn't turn out too bad. Only nine students perfected it; Hermione and the Cullens.

Divination was as bad as Alice had predicted. Trelawney was in a nasty mood by the end of it.

Then, to end the day, we had Defence Against the Dark Arts. Hermione interrupted the class again, having finished the whole of _Defensive Magical Theory._ Alice and Edward Cullen groaned when she went on to disagree with the author.

"Well, I'm afraid," said Umbridge, "that it is Mr Slinkhard's opinion, and not yours, that matters within this classroom, Miss Granger."

"Are you saying that we can't even voice our views?" demanded Edward. He shook his head in disbelief. "That completely disregards the point of learning!"

"That is enough!" snapped Umbridge, "Miss Granger, I am going to take five points from Gryffindor house. And five points from you, too, Mr Masen."

I thought this was just too unfair. "What for?" I exclaimed.

"For disrupting my class with pointless interruptions," she replied.

"Pointless?" scoffed Jacob. "The girl's letting you know she's finished the book! This is completely ridiculous!"

Alice was suddenly looking frustrated.

"Ridiculous?" repeated Umbridge quietly.

"Yeah. What kind of teacher are you?"

"Detention, Mr Cullen. Tonight; five o'clock; my office."

"Hey!" Renesmee exclaimed angrily, and Jacob quickly hushed her.

"It's okay, Nessie. I don't want you to get involved."

Umbridge ignored their exchanged. "I am here to teach you using a Ministry-approved method that does not include inviting students to give their opinions on matters about which they understand very little. Your previous teachers in this subject may have allowed you more licence, but as none of them – with the possible exception of Professor Quirrell, who did at least appear to have restricted himself to age-appropriate subjects – would have passed a Ministry inspection…"

"Yeah," I interrupted, all my patience gone and leaving anger in its place, "Quirrell was a great teacher. There was just that minor drawback of him having Lord Voldemort sticking out of the back of his head!"

The following silence was broken by the Cullen's loud groans. Umbridge watched me calmly.

"I think another week's detentions would do you some good, Mr Potter."

The Cullens all wore matching scowls on their perfect as we filed out of the classroom at the end of the lesson.

Renesmee was worrying over Jacob. "I can't believe she gave you detention!" she cried, "It's not at all fair!"

Jacob sighed. "Don't worry about it, Ness. I should've kept my mouth shut. I really was asking for it."

Alice frowned at me. "McGonagall's not going to be happy with you, nor is Angelina."

I sighed. "Thanks for the heads up."

"I would've warned you to watch your temper, but when the mutt here," she nudged Jacob playfully, "got involved, your future disappeared."

"You feeling okay, Jazz?" asked Edward.

Jasper smiled sarcastically. "I'm thinking I should just start ditching Defence Against the Dark Arts. Too much emotion, what with Harry getting pissed at Umbridge every five minutes."

"Yeah," agreed Emmett, "Dude, for a human you've got some serious anger management issues."

Ron laughed. "Ha! You're telling us!"

I rolled my eyes. "Gee, thanks."

"You're welcome!"

"Well, at least you'll have some company in detention tonight," grinned Jacob.

"Yeah," I muttered, "get a couple more people and it'll be a party."

Alice looked up. "Speaking of parties, I assume you three are coming to Nessie's?"

Hermione looked surprised. "I didn't realise she was having one, let alone that we were invited."

"Really? I'm sure I saw Bella invite you."

"She told me," I said, "I forgot to tell you guys."

"Oh," said Alice, "well, anyhoo, it's Renesmee's birthday on Wednesday; her party's on Saturday."

Hermione beamed. "We'd love to come! Thanks, Alice!"

"Awesome! Well, see you guys later."

I met Jacob on the way to our detention, and we walked to Umbridge's office together.

"So," I began, attempting awkward conversation, "do you like Hogwarts so far?"

He shrugged. "It's not too bad. Renesmee's enjoying it, so that's a good thing."

I noticed how he said her name, as though she was a goddess he worshipped or something.

"You really seem to like her."

"I really do. Ever since she was born, it's like nothing else on earth matters anymore. She's what ties me to the ground and stops me floating away. Renesmee is, literally, my soul mate."

I stared at him, not exactly understanding, and unsure what to say.

Jacob grinned sheepishly. "It's called imprinting. It's a wolf thing."

"Right," I muttered.

"Good evening, Professor Umbridge," we chorused together on entering her office.

"Good evening," she replied softly, "Mr Potter; you know what to do. Mr Cullen, I want you to use this special quill here, and write 'I must not be rude.'"

He took the quill off her and sat down next to me. I watched as he wrote the line and his hand was scratched open. He didn't even seem to notice, as his skin healed over instantly. I quickly tore my eyes away and started my own lines. It wasn't until his hand was patched slightly with blood that he realised what was happening. He glanced at my own hand, glistening red, and his eyes hardened.

"Shit!" he exclaimed, glaring at Umbridge, "What the hell is this?"

Umbridge looked up slowly. "Is there a problem, Mr Cullen?"

Jacob was shaking violently, and took a few deep breaths to calm down. "No. Not at all."

She smiled. "Excellent."

It was very late when Umbridge dismissed us, and my hand was throbbing as it bled. Jacob's hand, in comparison, only had faint pink scars where the quill had cut it open.

"Another wolf thing," he explained, "We heal fast."

I nodded and started heading back to the dormitory. A hand on my shoulder stopped me.

"You should go to the hospital wing."

"I'm fine!" I protested.

"Sure, sure. But it's probably best not to tempt Bella and her bloodsucker."

I frowned. "They managed fine the other night."

"Whatever," he said, "but Bella's told me that their thirst is like red-hot flames in their throats, and that's with blood _under_ the skin. I don't want you causing my best friend pain."

I sighed and gave in. "Well, if you put it like that…"

He walked me to the hospital wind, where Doctor Cullen was watching the patients while Madam Pomfrey retired to her office for the night.

"Hey, Doc!" called Jacob casually.

Doctor Cullen looked up in surprise. "Hello, Jacob. What are you doing here so late?"

Jacob shoved me forward. "I've got you a patient."

"Ah!" He beckoned me over and examined my hand, frowning. "May I ask how this happened?"

"I had a detention with Professor Umbridge," I began, and I could tell he understood.

"Yes, Edward told me about that," he muttered grimly, "Well, sit down and I'll bandage it up for you."

"Thanks," I sighed, sitting on one of the beds.

"What about you, Jacob?" asked Doctor Cullen as he started mixing up a yellowish paste, "You also had a detention?"

Jacob shrugged. "All I did was tell Umbridge what I thought of her. She didn't appreciate it that much."

"Jacob," sighed Doctor Cullen, "I know I'm not your father or anything, and therefore have no control over you, but I do wish you hadn't done that. Again, you have no reason to do as I say, but please try not to do it again."

Jacob watched him with respect, and nodded. "Don't worry about it, Carlisle. It was a one-time-only thing."

He grinned. "I'm glad to hear that." He spread the paste over my hand and started bandaging it up. "How's my granddaughter? I trust you're taking good care of her."

"Of course! I think she's really enjoying school."

"Excellent! Okay, Harry, all done. You can go to bed now. The paste is covering the scent of your blood, so Edward and Bella won't be a risk."

"Thankyou," I said, standing up.

"No problem."

"Erm, goodnight," I muttered awkwardly.

"'Night," grinned Jacob.

"Goodnight," said Doctor Cullen.

On the way back to the common room, I thought idly to myself. Bella, Edward, and now Jacob; three new friends in one week. Not bad.


	9. 12 Party at Hogwarts

**Disclaimer:**** I don't own Harry Potter or Twilight. **

**List of POVs:**

**Bella – BPOV**

**Edward – EPOV**

**Renesmee – NPOV**

**Jacob – JPOV**

**Alice – APOV**

**Jasper – JasPOV**

**Emmet – EmPOV**

**Rosalie – RPOV**

**Harry – HPOV**

**Ron – RonPOV**

**Hermione - HerPOV**

**I'm still loving all the reviews I'm getting! Keep it up!**

**The Twilight part of the plot starts growing in this one…sorry if it's too predictable! I hope you like it!**

**12. Party at Hogwarts**

**NPOV**

I felt myself slowly waking up, but I didn't open my eyes. A large pair of warm arms were wrapped around me and I smiled. Mama and Daddy didn't mind Jacob and I sharing a bed, I mean, it's not like we did anything. We just enjoyed each other's company.

I rolled over and nuzzled my head into Jake's chest. Seeing that I was awake, he kissed the top of my head.

"Happy birthday," he said quietly. Was it Wednesday already?

"Thanks."

I snuggled closer to him and he laughed. "We have class."

I groaned. "Can't we just stay here?"

"If I let you ditch, I doubt your dad will show me mercy when he rips my head off."

"He wouldn't dare!" I protested, but I couldn't help giggling. I looked up to see him smirking at me.

"Nevertheless, I'm sure your family wants to wish you a happy birthday."

I pictured Alice jumping up and down in excitement and sighed. "We'd better not keep them waiting, then."

I rolled out of bed and kissed Jacob's cheek quickly before I left the boy's dormitory to get dressed.

As I pulled on my new school robes, I reflected on my first week-and-a-half at Hogwarts. It wasn't that weird an experience for me, as I'd never been to a normal school before, but I assumed that most high schools were nothing like this.

Jake was already dressed and waiting for me when I left the dormitory. He scooped me up in his arms and carried me all the way to the Entrance Hall.

I giggled when he set me on my feet and kissed my hand before mock bowing. He held the door to the Great Hall for me.

"After you, beautiful lady."

The second I stepped into the Hall, my family gathered around me. Alice pounced on me in a hug that nearly knocked me over.

"Happy birthday, Nessie!" she squealed in my ear.

"Thanks, Auntie Alice! Um, I'd like to breathe now!"

She loosened her grip, but didn't let go.

"Alice," chuckled Dad, "please release her. I would like to greet my daughter."

"Fine!" She stepped back, grinning from ear to ear.

Mum and Dad hugged me together.

"Happy birthday, Renesmee, sweetheart."

"Thankyou, Mama, thankyou, Daddy."

"Come and open your presents!" said Alice, beaming.

I allowed her to drag me to Mum and Dad's table, where a small pile of presents sat among the food.

"Happy birthday, Renesmee," said Hermione as we sat down. She offered me a card from her, Ron and Harry, that sang loudly when I opened it.

"Thanks, guys."

Mum handed me an envelope first.

"This is from Grandpa Charlie."

I laughed as I read the card.

"_Dear Renesmee,_

_Happy 11__th__ birthday, honey._

_I almost had a heart attack when this owl flew in the window and dropped a letter on my head. Your mum had written to tell me that you guys are going to some secret magic school. You do this need-to-know thing very thoroughly, don't you?_

_We're all missing you._

_Grandpa Charlie, Grandma Sue, Leah, and Seth."_

I put the card aside and began opening my presents. Alice gave me (surprise, surprise) clothes, and a case of makeup. Rosalie gave me a sparkling necklace and bracelet set, real diamonds, of course. I got a book of paintings by my favourite artists from Jasper, and a magic practical joke book from Emmett. Still in the book theme, Grandpa Carlisle and Grandma Esme gave me a leather bound set of classics, including my mum's favourites. Jacob had carved me a new charm (a tiny wizard's hat) for my old charm bracelet. Mum and Dad gave me a framed photograph of the whole family. Dad must've figured out how the wizards made their photos move, as everyone in the picture was waving at me.

I thanked them all and stood up to give everyone a kiss on the cheek.

In class, almost everyone wished me a happy birthday. I guessed Alice was behind it, as I hadn't told anyone.

After our last class of the day, Mum and Dad took me hunting. Dad called it 'family time with the birthday girl.' They gave me a head start, since I wasn't as fast as them, and I ran until I came across a large deer. I jumped on its back, pulling it to the forest ground, and sunk my teeth into its throat. It struggled for a moment, kicking frantically at me, before it went limp and I drank deeply.

"Nice catch," Mum praised me when I was done. I licked my lips and grinned at her.

Dad suddenly burst through the trees, looking excited, and swept me up in his arms.

"Dad!" I complained, but he pressed a cold finger to my lips.

"Hush, Nessie," he grinned, and I scowled at him.

"Edward!" laughed Mum, "Put her down!"

Dad reluctantly lowered me back to the ground, but he was still grinning in excitement.

"I want to show you something, Renesmee!"

I folded my arms across my chest stubbornly. "What is it?"

He shook his head. "Nope. It's a surprise!"

He turned away and started walking in the direction he came from.

_Well, if you're going to be that way!_ I thought to him, and concentrated on singing the alphabet backwards in my head.

I ran forward and leaped onto his back, wrapping my arms securely around his neck.

_Please, Daddy?_

"Sorry, Renesmee, darling. You'll just have to be patient for a few more minutes."

I growled in frustration, and he chuckled. He carried me piggy-back for a few hundred metres, and I heard strong heartbeats nearby.

"Just remember, my darling, that what I'm about to show you isn't dinner."

"Okay," I said slowly, glancing at Mum. She looked just as confused as I felt.

Dad put me down. "Then follow me."

He led us into a small clearing and I gasped in delight at the two most beautiful creatures I'd ever seen.

The larger one was so white it made Mum and Dad's pale skin look flushed, and the foal was pure gold. A horn protruded from the adult's forehead, shimmering faintly in the moonlight.

"Wow, Daddy!" I breathed, "They're so beautiful!"

"Extremely," he agreed, "But they have nothing on you two stunning ladies."

I blushed and knelt to the ground. I clicked my tongue softly and held my hand out, beckoning the foal over.

"Come on," I urged gently, "Don't be scared. I won't hurt you!"

The baby unicorn glanced uncertainly at its mother and slowly walked up to me. It was as tall as my shoulder when I was kneeling down. I patted its velvety nose carefully, and giggled when it started licking my fingers.

"Hello," I whispered, "my name's Renesmee."

Curiously, the unicorn licked my cheek, before turning back to its mother and darting away into the trees. I watched them go before looking up at Mum and Dad.

"Did I do something wrong?" I asked sadly.

"No, of course not, sweetheart!" said Mum quickly, "Now smile! You're not supposed to be miserable on your birthday!"

I grinned at her and Dad. We quickly finished up our hunt and ran back to the castle.

Mum and Dad kissed me goodnight in the Entrance Hall before we went off in different directions. As soon as they were out of hearing range, I started running up to Hufflepuff tower, where I knew Jacob would be waiting for me.

**HerPOV**

I rummaged through my suitcase, scattering robes all over my bed. I'm not usually worried about clothes, but I have no idea what to wear to a half-vampire's birthday party. I bent down to pick up an old pair of jeans that had fallen on the floor, only to drop them in fright when I straightened up. Bella Cullen was sitting cross-legged on the end of my bed as though she'd been there the whole time.

"Oh, sorry! I didn't mean to scare you!" she said as I gasped for breath. She grinned apologetically. "You should hear your heart racing!"

"It's okay!" I gasped, "I'm fine!"

Bella waited for my heartbeat to resume its usual pace before speaking again. "Edward said you could use some help," she explained, gesturing to the mess of clothes.

"He was right," I told her gratefully, "Thanks."

She stood up in a fluid motion and picked up her own suitcase effortlessly in one hand.

"Here," she said, setting it on the bed and unzipping it. "Alice must've packed something you can wear."

"Alice?" I asked.

Bella nodded. "I turned my back for about five minutes. Anyway, I'd say you're about my size. Try this."

She handed me a black dress and turned around so I could change. I slipped the dress on and surveyed myself in the mirror doubtfully.

"Er, I don't know, Bella. It's a bit short."

The dress was strapless, made of black silk, and ruffled slightly above the knee, where it ended.

"Just be glad I'm the one dressing you, not Alice. Edward," she continued in the same tone, "could you please come up here and tell us what you think?"

Edward was at her side in a flash, looking me up and down.

"Not bad," he complimented, "It suits you."

I felt myself blush. "Thanks."

Bella looked through her case again and pulled out a pair of diamond-studded silver shoes.

"Can you walk in heels?" she asked.

"I guess so."

"Here you go then." She knelt down and fitted them onto my feet herself. "Hmm…you can keep these earrings, here; I don't know why Alice gave me these since vampires can't have pierced ears. Try this necklace." She pressed the diamond jewellery into my hands, before pulling out a makeup bag.

I sat on the bed patiently while she coloured my lips and eyelids. For the final touch, she pulled my thick, bushy brown hair back into an elegant braid.

"Done. You look beautiful," she added, "Ron won't be able to look away."

I blushed again. "What?"

They just grinned knowingly. Edward groaned suddenly, and I checked my outfit in alarm.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

He stood behind Bella, his arms around her waist, and nuzzled his face into her shoulder.

"What has that evil little pixie of a sister done to my wife?" he moaned.

Bella laughed. "After almost thirteen years of makeovers, I'm bound to have learnt something. She looks good, then?"

He nodded. "Very good."

"Thankyou," I mumbled.

"You're welcome." Edward lowered his head towards Bella's, about to kiss her, but she stopped him with a finger to his lips. He looked surprised, and pouted at her when she pushed him to the door.

"You need to go and get ready," Bella told him, "Alice will rip your head off if you don't dress up for our daughter's party."

"Good point. I'll see you downstairs."

"See you soon."

The second he was gone, Bella returned to her suitcase.

"Hey, Hermione, you don't mind if I shield your thoughts, do you?" she asked suddenly, "I don't want Edward peeking."

I shook my head. "Of course! Go ahead."

"Thanks."

She pulled on a short deep blue dress with a low neckline and frilled sleeves. She looked amazing already! She slid two diamond rings – an engagement and wedding ring, I realised – onto the third finger of her left hand, and did up the clasp of a charm bracelet on her wrist. A heart shaped diamond and tiny wooden wolf hung from the links. She left her mahogany hair to fall down to her waist like usual, and finally pulled on black stiletto boots. She didn't need to wear makeup, beautiful as she was.

"Wow!" I exclaimed, "You look fantastic!"

"Thankyou very much, Hermione. Are you ready to go?"

I nodded. "Yep."

"Come on, then."

Edward was already ready in the common room, dressed smartly in a black suit. His eyes widened when he saw Bella, and he lurched forward to sweep her up in a kiss.

"Really, love, must you torture me like this?"

She giggled and laced her arms around his neck. "Why? Do I 'dazzle' you?"

He groaned and pressed his lips to hers again. "Always." He looked past her at me. "Harry and Ron will meet us down these."

All the students stared at us as we made our way down to the Great Hall. I blushed and ducked my head, making Edward and Bella chuckle together.

Alice ran out to the Entrance Hall as we descended the stairs to meet us.

"Oh! You two look great! Well done, Bella – I'm proud to call you my sister! Hurry up, though. The party's about to start! We're just waiting for Harry and Ron; they'll be here in two minutes and eleven seconds. Come on!"

She grabbed my wrist and pulled me into the Great Hall. Edward and Bella followed.

Bella halted at the open door, and growled quietly. I looked around to see what had caused this reaction, and my eyes fell on a huge banner suspended in the middle of the hall.

_Happy 11__th__ Birthday Renesmee!_

_Happy 30__th__ Birthday Bella!_

"Surprise!" trilled Alice, "Happy birthday, Bella!"

Bella didn't seem pleased. "No, Alice!" she growled, "I told you already; I stopped ageing eleven years and three days ago. I'm eighteen forever!"

"You're only thirty; that's still young! I mean, look at Edward and I! We're only a few years away from one hundred and twenty! Now lighten up – this is a party!"

She danced away, leaving me with an angry Bella and amused Edward. Bella turned to glare at him. "You knew about this?"

He shrugged. "Of course."

She groaned. "Maybe Renesmee will have more sympathy for her mother," she grumbled, and stalked off.

Edward laughed, and I stared at him.

"Was Alice serious?" I asked, "Are you really..?"

"So old?" he laughed. "I am one hundred and fifteen years old. Ancient by your human standards."

"Wow," I murmured.

Edward chuckled again. "That's exactly what Ron was just thinking," he told me quietly. I spun around to see Ron and Harry staring at me, open-mouthed, and I blushed yet again.

"Hi, guys!"

"Hi," said Harry, still staring.

Ron found his voice. "You look great!"

"Thanks."

Renesmee skipped up to us, beaming. "Hey you three! I'm so glad you guys came! Come over here and join everyone else!"

I exchanged uncertain looks with Harry and Ron, before smiling back. "Okay."

She led us to the centre of the hall, where the four house tables had been replaced by one long one. The rest of the Cullens were already seated, and I was surprised to see Professor Dumbledore among them. A huge cake sat in the middle of the table. We took our seats near the end, and Alice immediately jumped up.

"Time for cake!" she announced in excitement. She waved her wand to dim the hall lights and light the candles. "Make a wish, Nessie!"

Renesmee thought for a second and blew out the candles. She took a long, sharp knife after everyone finished cheering, and sliced through the centre of the cake.

"You touched the bottom!" shouted Emmett, "Give Jacob a kiss!"

Renesmee blushed bright red. "Shut up, Emmett!" she screamed, throwing the knife at him.

Harry, Ron, and I gasped as the knife hurtled towards his head, but it only hit his forehead with a loud clang before dropping to the table. Emmett howled with laughter as he picked it back up. He was completely uninjured, but the knife had folded back on itself on impact with his head, so he used his fingertips to straighten it back out. I stared at him in shock, Harry and Ron doing the same, and the Cullens burst out laughing.

"Excellent throw, Nessie!"

"Good one, Ness!"

Emmett handed the knife back to Renesmee with a wink.

"I think this may be yours."

She finished cutting the cake and set plates in front of herself, Jacob, Dumbledore, Harry, Ron, Emmet, and I.

"Here you go, Em!" she said happily, "You can have the biggest piece, because I love you so much."

Emmett's grin instantly turned into a look of horror.

"But this is _human food!"_ he protested, looking at the cake in disgust.

Renesmee looked hurt. "You wouldn't pass on your favourite niece's birthday cake, would you?"

The Cullens laughed again, and even Dumbledore chuckled. We all watched Emmett pick up a crumb as though it were dirt, before grimacing and popping it into his mouth.

"Ugh! Gross! Seriously, Nessie, how did someone as little as you get so evil?"

"She gets it from her father," laughed Bella.

"And I'm not that little!" said Renesmee indignantly, "I'm taller than Auntie Alice!"

Emmett rolled his eyes. "What an accomplishment!"

Renesmee made him eat the whole piece of cake, much to everyone's amusement. He finished the final mouthful, jumped up, and announced, "I'm out of here!"

"Where do you think you're going?" asked Rosalie.

"I'm going to choke up this dirt, and then I'm going hunting! You want to join me, babe?"

Rosalie hesitated.

"Go ahead, Auntie Rose," said Nessie, "I don't mind. I can tell you're thirsty."

"Thanks sweetheart."

She kissed Renesmee's forehead and followed Emmett out of the hall.

After everyone who could eat had finished their cake (Jacob had several pieces), Alice produced a radio out of nowhere, turned it on, and jumped up, pulling Jasper with her, to dance. Doctor and Professor Cullen joined them after a moment, twirling gracefully in a circle.

Edward turned to Renesmee. "Would you like to dance, my darling?"

"Sure, Daddy!"

He led her onto the floor and spun her as she giggled.

Bella glanced at Jacob, who shook his head quickly. "Don't even think about it, Bells!"

She laughed. "You have two left feet anyway, silly mutt," she said fondly.

Jacob rolled his eyes. "Stop it with the dog jokes!"

Bella grinned and turned to Professor Dumbledore. "Would you like to dance, Albus?"

"I would love to, Bella."

It was funny watching Bella and Dumbledore dance together, her small, graceful form spinning with his tall, thin one.

"Whatever happened to the clumsy little human I used to know?" asked Jacob, watching them.

"I'm surprised, too," said Bella as she twirled past us, "I had begun to think that not even immortality would cure my klutziness."

They danced for a few songs, Harry, Ron, and I watching them in amusement, before Dumbledore excused himself.

"Thankyou very much for the dance, Mrs Masen-Cullen, but I am afraid I have some business that needs to be overseen." He kissed her hand politely and turned to Renesmee. "And thankyou very much for the invitation, Miss Cullen. A very happy birthday to the both of you."

He turned and swept out of the hall, just as a new song began.

Edward released Renesmee with a kiss on the forehead, and took Bella's hand. "May I have this dance, Mrs Cullen?"

Bella grinned. "You may, Mr Cullen."

Alice and Jasper finished dancing and sat back down with us. Renesmee, on the other hand, was pulling Jacob to his feet, laughing. We watched the three couples dancing for another minute before Alice spoke.

"Hermione, that was a great idea you had last night!"

"What?" I asked, distracted.

"The idea you had about Harry teaching you all defence," she said impatiently.

Harry and Ron looked up, their attention caught.

"Oh," I said, turning red, "well, I thought it might be a good idea, but Harry doesn't agree with me."

"It'll be a waste of time!" Harry insisted, "No one will turn up; who would want to?"

"Quite a few people, actually," replied Alice, "You'll be surprised."

"Have you had a vision?" I asked eagerly.

"Not exactly, because Harry keeps changing his mind, but I'm getting flickers."

"I don't understand," I told her.

"Well, you see, the future changes until a firm decision is made. Nothing's set in stone. But from the little I've seen, your idea should be a success, if Harry goes along with it."

"Yeah," said Harry, "but I'm still not sure…"

He broke of with a gasp of pain, and clapped his hand to his scar. He closed his eyes and yelled out.

The Cullens stopped dancing abruptly and looked at him in concern. Edward was frowning, obviously reading Harry's mind.

"Bella!" he said urgently, "His mind…"

Bella seemed to concentrate for a moment, and Harry stopped yelling.

"Harry!" I exclaimed, "Are you okay?"

He was shaking, and had gone very pale. "I'm fine."

"What just happened?" asked Ron.

"I dunno. I think…" he hesitated, "I think I just saw into Voldemort's mind."

I gasped, and the Cullens went silent.

"Edward?" asked Doctor Cullen eventually.

"I think Harry may be right," he replied, "It definitely wasn't his thoughts I was hearing. It was like his mind was taken over by another."

"What did you see, Harry?" I asked.

"Voldemort was talking to one of his Death Eaters. He said, 'Are you sure?' and the Death Eater replied, 'Yes, if we can get them on our side…' and then the vision cut off."

"That was Bella," Edward told him, "I asked her to shield you as soon as I realised what was happening."

Doctor Cullen turned his attention back to Harry. "You should come with me to the hospital wing. You look really unwell."

"Carlisle, wait!" cried Edward anxiously. There was a glazed look in his eyes, and he was staring at Alice.

Alice's face was blank, her wide eyes staring straight ahead in horror. Jasper was holding her by the shoulders.

"What do you see, Alice?"

Alice blinked slowly and the blank look vanished. She and Edward exchanged a worried look. What they said next, in unison, confused Harry, Ron, and I, but the Cullens' reactions chilled me to the bone.

"It's Voldemort!" they gasped, "He's going to Italy!"

**BPOV**

I panicked.

Surely it was just a coincidence!

I could tell the humans didn't understand, but that was the least of our worries.

"Alice, when you say Italy…" I began desperately.

"Volterra, Italy," she said, and the little hope I had vanished.

"Why?" asked Jasper.

"He's learned of the Volturi, he's going to ask them to join him."

"Maybe we'll get lucky and they'll have him for dinner," suggested Jacob weakly.

"Aro would never join the Death Eaters," protested Carlisle.

"But what if they find out about us?" I asked, "Even Aro would do anything to wipe out your coven, Carlisle!"

"If the Volturi and Death Eaters are allied we wouldn't stand a chance!" added Jasper, "Not even if we had help like last time!"

"Wait a minute!" interrupted Harry loudly, "What's going on?"

We all looked at each other.

"Jasper, Alice," said Carlisle, "go find Emmett and Rose. Tell them what's happened. Bella and Edward, please escort Harry, Ron and Hermione back to the common room. You can explain then. I will go speak to Albus."

We nodded and did as we were told at once.

"Come on, you three."

They were definitely frightened by the time we reached Gryffindor tower. Harry headed straight for his usual armchair and rubbed his scar absently. Ron and Hermione sank into the two chairs opposite him, and the three of them looked at us expectantly.

"Okay," said Harry loudly, "you two have to tell us what's happening! What's a Volturi?"

"Keep your voice down!" hissed Edward, looking around at the humans crowded in the room pointedly.

"Sorry," muttered Harry, "So, what's a Volturi?"

"_The_ Volturi," corrected Edward, "is a very old and extremely powerful family of our kind. They are, I guess, royalty among vampires, and enforce our rules."

"Vampires have rules?" asked Harry.

"We must keep our existence hidden from humans," I told him.

"Sort of like how we have to hide from Muggles?" wondered Ron.

If only it were that simple. I sighed. "Not quite. Hermione, your parents are Muggles, right? Yet they know you're a witch and it's fine cos they're family. The Volturi wouldn't be so flexible. If you perform magic in front of a Muggle, what happens to you? You might get a slap on the wrist or possibly expelled. If we do anything to expose ourselves to the humans – and that could be anything from lifting a car over our head to stepping into the sunlight – and the Volturi finds out, we'd be lucky to escape with our lives."

"You've got to be exaggerating!" said Hermione, making Edward and I chuckle.

"Edward went to them to commit suicide," I winced at the memory, "and it would've worked if Alice and I hadn't got there in time. About a year later they tried to kill Renesmee, who was just a baby at the time. Luckily, it didn't come to a fight and they left in peace. We haven't had any trouble from them since."

Harry, Ron and Hermione were looking horrified.

"But now..?" said Harry.

"Now it looks like Voldemort's going to try and get them to join him," finished Edward grimly.

"But why are you all so worried?" asked Hermione, "I mean, we've obviously got vampires on our side too."

"It's not as easy as that," sighed Edward, "Aro, Marcus and Caius – the leaders of the Volturi – build their coven on vampires with talents suck as Bella's, Alice's, and mine. They are deadly opponents."

"Can they read minds and see the future too?"

"Not exactly," I replied, "although they would love to have us in their coven." I shuddered at the thought. "Aro's power is, I guess, similar to Edward's, except he needs physical contact to hear every thought the mind's ever had. And you know of the Cruciatus curse, I believe it's called? A member named Jane can do that with just her mind. Her twin, Alec, may be even more dangerous."

Edward and I fell silent, allowing them to think.

"You're right Hermione," said Edward suddenly, making her jump and turn pink. He looked at Harry. "Listen to me, Harry. It was important for you all to learn to defend yourselves against the Death Eaters. If the Volturi join them, it's a thousand times as important! Consider Hermione's idea."

We all stared at Harry intently, conveying silently just how important it was.

"Okay, okay!" he said finally, "I'll think about it, okay?"

We grinned in approval. "Good."

"You won't be alone, either," I told him, "We'll help you."

Edward kissed my cheek, before looking up and sighing.

"Alice, Jasper, Emmett and Rose are outside."

"They want to speak to us?"

He nodded.

"Okay," I sighed, "You three humans should get to bed. Vampire drama isn't healthy for you."

They laughed weakly and Edward rolled his eyes. "Very funny, Bella."

I grinned and wished Harry, Ron and Hermione goodnight.

"Goodnight," they echoed.

"And happy birthday, Bella," added Hermione.

I frowned. Somehow, Alice was going to pay.

We met our siblings outside the common room, Emmett and Rosalie disgruntled at being interrupted in the middle of their hunt, and explained to them what we had just discussed.

"I'm glad you spoke to Harry about the defence idea, Edward," said Alice, "Look how much clearer my visions are getting!"

"I still don't believe Aro would ever join Voldemort," muttered Jasper, "Powerful or not, he's still just a human!"

"I suppose it just depends on what he offers them," said Edward.

"And he might not need Aro to join him," added Rosalie, "If he just got Jane or Caius on his side, that would be enough."

We all looked at each other silently.

"I'm going to talk to Carlisle," said Alice after a moment, "C'mon Jazz."

"Yeah,' mumbled Emmett, "we should go too. I'm still thirsty."

Very soon, Edward and I were alone again.

"What an unfortunate turn of events," I muttered.

Edward sighed. "A real shame," he agreed, "Although, I can think of something that might make you feel better… I haven't given you your birthday present yet, and you look dazzling in that dress."

I grinned. "I guess I can ignore my rule about presents just this once…"

He swept me up in a kiss and we went to find somewhere more private.


	10. 13 Theories and Plans

**Disclaimer:**** I don't own Harry Potter or Twilight. **

**List of POVs:**

**Bella – BPOV**

**Edward – EPOV**

**Renesmee – NPOV**

**Jacob – JPOV**

**Alice – APOV**

**Jasper – JasPOV**

**Emmet – EmPOV**

**Rosalie – RPOV**

**Harry – HPOV**

**Ron – RonPOV**

**Hermione - HerPOV**

**13 Theories and Plans**

**APOV**

It had been several weeks since the party, and I hadn't had any further visions involving Voldemort or the Volturi. This didn't worry me because it meant no firm decision had been made yet.

I felt a vision approaching. I hope I haven't spoken too soon…

_A large group of students were gathered in an extremely dirty bar. Hermione Granger stood and spoke to them._

"_Well, you know why we're here…"_

_The vision changed._

_The same people were now gathered in a huge room. A piece of parchment with the heading 'Dumbledore's Army' was pinned to the wall. All eyes were on Harry Potter._

"_Right," he said, "shall we get practising, then"_

I returned to the present to find Jasper watching me in concern.

"What is it, Alice?" he asked urgently, "Was it the Volturi?"

I shook my head, grinning. "No. It's Harry. He's finally made up his mind!"

He grinned back. "Finally," he agreed.

I dashed from the common room to find the others. I found them sitting in the library with Harry, Ron and Hermione. The humans had large books in front of them and were writing essays. Edward and Bella were helping them, while Nessie and Jacob watched. Rosalie was sitting on a table, making out with Emmett passionately.

"Hey, Alice!" grinned Bella, "What's going on?"

"Well, it just so happens, oh sister of mine, that a certain black-haired, green-eyed, glasses-wearing human has finally decided to teach everyone Defence Against the Dark Arts."

Everyone turned to stare at Harry.

"How come you didn't tell us?" demanded Ron.

"I only just made up my mind five minutes ago!"

Hermione was beaming. "Oh, Harry, this is wonderful! I'll have to tell everyone who might like to join!"

"Jazzy and I will tell the Ravenclaws about the meeting next weekend!" I said, and we hurried off.

We found my friend Cho Chang first.

"Hello, Alice! Hi Jasper!"

"Hey, Cho! Listen, next weekend in Hogsmeade, there's going to be a meeting for anyone who wants to learn Defence Against the Dark Arts properly. Harry Potter's forming a group to teach everyone himself."

Cho turned pink. "Really? Well, that's…that's nice of him. Where are we meeting?"

"The Hog's Head," I told her.

"Great! I'll be there. I might ask Marietta if she wants to come along."

"No! Don't!" I said quickly.

She looked hurt. "Why not?"

"Trust me," I told her firmly, "Whatever you do, don't invite Marietta Edgecombe!"

"Okay, fine!" she muttered sulkily, "See you around, Alice. Bye, Jasper."

Jasper looked at me curiously. "What was that about?"

"There is a strong possibility that if Marietta comes along she will betray us all to Umbridge."

"It _is_ usually the human females with the biggest mouths," he said.

"That's right," I agreed, thinking of Jessica Stanley, the Queen of Gossip back in Forks. "Come on, let's go find Luna!"

It took us ten minutes to track everyone I'd seen would come to the meeting down, then we headed back to the library.

Bella and Edward were reading a book entitled _Moste Deadlye Magykal Creatures,_ and laughing.

"Listen to this," giggled Bella, "_'Vampires are easily recognisable by their pale, rock hard, ice cold skin; inhuman beauty; and two extra long, sharp fangs protruding from their top gums. They fare badly when subjected to sunlight, fire, garlic, holy water, and symbols of crucifiction.'_ Geez, I hope for this guy's sake he never took up vampire hunting."

"Actually, Bella," Edward began thoughtfully, "I have a theory…"

Jacob rolled his eyes. "Another of the great Edward Cullen's theories!"

"Shut up, Jake!" sighed Bella, "Go on, Edward."

He grinned. "Well, after reading some of these books, most of which are over a thousand years old, I have been wondering how these myths began. Hollywood didn't exist back when this was written, so what could have inspired the ideas of fangs and garlic? I have the idea that maybe we have…evolved."

I snorted. "Are you saying that the stereotypical vampires used to be real?"

"It's just a theory," he said hastily, "but it sort of makes sense, doesn't it? Who are the oldest vampires you know?"

"The Volturi," said Bella promptly, and the rest of us nodded in agreement.

"And who was there before the Volturi?" Edward asked, "Why not a whole other species of vampire; one that had fangs and was burned by the sunlight. Maybe they gradually changed until a thousand years ago, and become our kind."

"That's a good point," I commented.

"Wait a minute," interrupted Jacob, "If this different type of bloodsucker used to exist, then where are they now?"

Edward smiled. "By the sound of it, we weren't nearly so indestructible once."

Bella looked thoughtful. "You should tell Carlisle your theory. I'm sure he'll be interested."

"I'm just worried about all the wizards who've read this book," I said, "How's everyone supposed to defend themselves against vampires if they've been fed false information?"

"No human would stand a chance against us anyway," Jasper reminded me.

"Especially since most spells don't affect us," added Bella, "The only ones that do any damage are the Unforgivable Curses. Avada Kedavra doesn't even properly kill us!"

But, I thought to myself, it _was_ possible to kill us with magic. If a wizard hit us with Avada Kedavra and then started a fire while we were unconscious… It was just a shame that the wizards didn't know this. They would be killed within seconds if they continued to run around with their garlic and crucifixes. A real shame…

"Alice!" hissed Edward, "Are you insane?"

Probably. "Well, why not, Edward? If it helps the kids defend themselves!"

"I can't believe you're actually considering this!"

I heard Ron whisper to Bella, "Is it normal for them to go on like this?"

Bella nodded. "It's very frustrating. Hey guys, how about filling in those of us who can't read minds?"

Edward didn't look away from me. "Alice thinks we should teach students how to defend themselves against vampires."

"What's wrong with that? They need to learn!"

I nodded at her appreciatively. "Thankyou, Bella."

"Alice wants to demonstrate what vampires are capable of."

There was a moment of shocked silence where even Rosalie and Emmett stopped kissing to stare at me.

"Alice," began Jasper, but Rosalie interrupted him.

"You're nuts! You want to expose us?" she demanded, "These are the only humans in the world that are a threat to us, and you just want to walk up to them and say, 'Hey, guess what? We're bloodsucking monsters and this is how to kill us!'"

"Have you even thought of how dangerous it could be, Alice?" asked Bella.

I sighed theatrically. "Fine! You guys should at least think about it, though!"

"I'm just not sure we can trust everyone yet," said Renesmee quietly, "But, maybe we could just teach the ones who already know about us?" She looked pointedly at Harry, Ron, and Hermione.

Edward looked thoughtful. "That's a much more sensible idea. You three have proven trustworthy enough."

He was at least agreeing to an extent. That was better than nothing. I grinned at the humans. "How would you like to learn to kill vampires?"

We Cullens entered the filthy bar with Harry, Ron and Hermione. The bartender looked up as we came in, and seemed surprised at the large number of customers. I didn't blame him, personally, I thought as I looked around.

Hermione ordered the humans plus Renesmee and Jacob 'Butterbeers' and we helped pay for them. The barman looked at the rest of us expectantly and Edward shook his head.

"Nothing for us, thanks. I don't expect you have our preferences on tap."

The bartender looked slightly offended, but shrugged it off, and we went to sit down.

"So," said Harry, "who did you say is supposed to be meeting us?"

"Not many people," I replied, then started listing them off. "Neville Longbottom, Dean Thomas, Lavender Brown, the Patil twins, Cho Chang, Luna Lovegood, Katie Bell, Alicia Spinnet, Angelina Johnson, the Creevey brothers, Ernie Macmillan, Justin Finch-Fletchley, Hannah Abbott, Susan Bones, Anthony Goldstein, Michael Corner, Terry Boot, the rest of the Weasleys, Lee Jordan, and Zacharias Smith."

"Not many people?" repeated Harry faintly as the door opened and they started piling into the bar. I stared at him, not comprehending.

Edward sighed. "To Alice, that isn't a lot of people," he explained.

"Well it isn't!" I said indignantly.

The Weasley twins ordered the newcomers Butterbeers and joined us.

"Why are there _Slytherins_ here?" asked Zacharias, watching Emmett and Rosalie with contempt.

Emmett put on a menacing glare. "Do you have a problem with us, kid?"

Zacharias turned white and flinched away. "N-no," he stuttered.

"Seriously, though," said Neville nervously, "can we really trust them?"

"You can trust my brother and sister with your life," I replied simply, "Now be quiet and listen to Hermione."

Hermione started talking nervously. She spoke so fast I was surprised the humans could process what she was saying. Finally she finished with, "Well, I thought it would be a good idea if we, well, took matters into our own hands. And by that I mean learning how to defend ourselves properly, not just in theory but doing the real spells…"

Michael Corner interrupted her. "You want to pass you Defence Against the Dark Arts OWL too, though, I bet?"

I giggled. After these lessons _everyone_ here would pass easily.

Hermione spoke again quickly. "Of course I do. But more than that, I want to be properly trained in defence because…because…" she hesitated and I braced myself for the reaction I knew was coming, "because Lord Voldemort is back."

A couple of people squeaked in fright and everyone flinched.

Emmett laughed, finding the reaction to the name hilarious. "Voldemort, Voldmort, oh Voldy, Voldy, Voldy, Voldemort," he sang to the tune of Lollipop. Everyone cringed again and stared at Emmett like he was crazy. Well, he _was_ crazy, but that's beside the point.

"Emmett!" snapped Edward harshly. He shut up and everyone turned their attention back to Hermione. "Go on."

"Well…that's the plan, anyway. If you want to join us, we need to decide how we're going to…"

She was interrupted yet again, this time by Zacharias.

"Where's the proof You-Know-Who's back?" he demanded.

I rolled my eyes. "You guys are rather rude, you know. Where I come from, it is generally considered impolite to interrupt someone else."

He ignored me and continued glaring at Hermione, who turned pink.

"Well, Dumbledore believes it…" she betgan.

"You mean Dumbledore believes _him,"_ he retaliated, gesturing to Harry. I can't believe he interrupted _again!_

My family growled, too quietly for the humans to hear. Edward stood up.

"Professor Dumbledore believes him, yes, and so do I."

Bella stood beside him. "And I."

I jumped to my feet. "Me too!" I squealed.

One by one, the rest of my family stood.

"I'm usually very good at telling whether someone's lying or not," Edward continued, smiling slightly, "but if you don't want to believe us, I see no point for you being here."

Zacharias met my brother's glare for a second, before ducking his head, his pulse racing in fear.

"So," said Hermione in a shaky voice, "So…like I was saying…"

In the end, she made us sign our names on a piece of parchment before letting us go.

"That jinx was unnecessary, Hermione," said Edward as we walked back up to the castle, "If anyone thinks of blabbing, Alice and I will catch them out."

Hermione blushed and grinned cheekily. "I know."

"Brilliant!" said Emmett, "She's even more diabolical than Bella was! No offense, Bells."

"None taken, Em," Bella replied.

Harry and Ron laughed. "Remind me again to never get on your bad side," muttered Ron. I giggled. He _will_ get on her bad side eventually, whether we remind him or not.

"So, where will we have the meetings?" asked Hermione, changing the subject quickly, "Have you seen, Alice?"

"We'll find somewhere; I've seen that much," I answered, "We just don't know where it is yet."

"Everyone will just have to keep an eye out," said Edward.

It was then that I was hit with a vision and I groaned. "Dammit!"

"What's wrong, Alice?" asked Harry.

"One of the customers in the Hog's Head overheard our meeting," I explained, "On Monday morning you will find a notice saying, _'By order of the High Inquisitor of Hogwarts, all student organisations, societies, teams, groups and clubs are henceforth disbanded. Blah blah blah…any student found to have formed, or to belong to, an organisation, society, team, group or club that has not been approved by the High Inquisitor will be expelled.'"_

"Well, shit," said Emmett brightly, "Someone up there must really hate you guys."

"Tell me about it," rumbled Harry.

I was glad to see that, despite the unfortunate news, my original vision stayed the same.

"Oh great!" I cried, "I knew you three would go ahead with it anyway!"

"Of course we will!" exclaimed Hermione, "Umbridge doesn't have to know about it!"

"She doesn't," I agreed, "Especially since I dissuaded Cho from inviting her friend along. By the way, Harry, how much longer before you ask Cho out?"

Harry turned red. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Emmett and Jasper cracked up. "Dude, can you be any more obvious?" asked Jazz.

"Ask her out soon," added Emmett, "You don't want to end up like Eddie here," Edward shot him a glare at the unwanted nickname, "He went a hundred and five years without getting lai…"

"Enough, Emmett!" snapped Edward.

"…without getting…a date," Emmett finished.

"You two are going to go out eventually," I told Harry, "and I'm getting sick of waiting to dress her up for your date. She's going to look gorgeous, by the way."

Your _only_ date, I added mentally. But who cares if it doesn't last long? The kid needs practise with women if he's going to end up with Ginny Weasley.

Monday was….eventful. I informed Harry, Ron and Hermione at breakfast to expect a visit from Sirius later that day via Floo Powder.

We descended the stairs down to the dungeons for potions, just in time to hear Draco Malfoy say, "Apparently they've got a special ward for people whose brains have been addled by magic."

"Oh dear," I murmured as he made a face to impersonate such people.

Neville Longbottom ran forward to attack Draco. I allowed him to get one punch in before grabbing him and dragging him back. I could've held him by myself easily, but I didn't look very human. After all, I was half his size! Edward jumped over to 'help' me restrain him.

Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle looked ready for a fight and Draco was laughing. I growled at them, drawing my top lip back automatically over my teeth. They looked frightened for a second, but laughed it off.

"It looks like the midget belongs in the nut house with Potter!" said Draco.

Uh oh. He shouldn't have said that. I may not be very sensitive about my past, but…

Before the humans could blink, Jasper was holding Draco up by the front of his robes.

"Don't you ever talk about Alice like that again!" he hissed.

The human was clearly terrified. "Okay! I won't! I won't!" he squealed.

Jasper dropped him and I released Neville to skip over to them. Draco glared at me and I slapped him around the face.

"That's for calling me a midget," I told him pleasantly, "C'mon Jazz!"

I smiled at Snape as we filed into the classroom. He frowned back, like usual, but I didn't let him ruin my good mood.

After lunch, we had Divination with a very upset, very offended, Professor Trelawney. She had received the results of her inspection back, and Umbridge wasn't impressed.

When class finished, I went up to her. "It will all end well," I told her quietly, then left.

"Why would you tell her that?" asked Edward, "Umbridge is determined to sack her!"

"I didn't say she wasn't going to be sacked," I responded, "Just that it will all end well. Which it will. Albus is determined to keep her in the school, so look what it will lead to!" I replayed my vision for him to see.

Edward sighed. "You're the psychic."

Jasper hesitated outside the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom.

"It's okay, Jazz," I told him softly, "Nothing's going to happen today. No strong emotions; just an ordinary, boring, lesson. You'll be fine!"

"Thanks, Alice," he said, and followed me into the classroom.

**A/N Did anyone get the Potter Puppet Pals reference? Sorry, I couldn't resist! Please review!**


	11. 14 Lessons

**Disclaimer:**** I don't own Harry Potter or Twilight. **

**List of POVs:**

**Bella – BPOV**

**Edward – EPOV**

**Renesmee – NPOV**

**Jacob – JPOV**

**Alice – APOV**

**Jasper – JasPOV**

**Emmet – EmPOV**

**Rosalie – RPOV**

**Harry – HPOV**

**Ron – RonPOV**

**Hermione - HerPOV**

**Sorry for the late update. Enjoy!**

**14. Lessons**

**HPOV**

"Rosalie and Emmett have found the perfect place for practising Defence," Edward told us the next day.

"Brilliant! Where is it?" I asked eagerly.

"On the seventh floor, opposite the tapestry if Barnabas the Barmy," he replied, "The house-elves call it the Room of Requirement."

"We're checking it tonight if you wanted to start your lessons," said Bella.

"That sounds great!" exclaimed Hermione.

"Okay, well we're planning on going after dinner," explained Edward, "Did you want us to wait for you?"

"No, that's okay," I said, "We have my Invisibility Cloak and map. We'll be fine."

"Awesome," grinned Bella, "We'll see you guys later then."

I grabbed the Invisibility Cloak and Maurauder's Map after a quick dinner and ran back down to the common room to meet Ron and Hermione.

I threw the cloak over the three of us and tapped the map with my wand, whispering, _"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."_

The dot on the map marked _Dolores Umbridge_ was still in the Great Hall so we started walking down to the seventh floor. On the map, we were approaching two dots labelled _Renesmee Cullen _and _Jacob Black_, and we hurried to catch up with them.

They couldn't see us under the cloak, but Renesmee looked up curiously and stared directly at the spot where we were standing. She frowned slightly in confusion and inhaled deeply, her nostrils flaring. Jacob also looked up when he noticed her distraction.

"Harry? Ron? Hermione? Are you there?" she asked.

We pulled off the cloak and they jumped in surprise.

"How did you know we were there?" I asked her.

"I didn't until I heard your heartbeats," she replied, "then I picked up your scents. Why couldn't I see you?"

"Because of this," I held up the cloak, "It's an Invisibility Cloak."

"You mean it makes you invisible? That's awesome."

"It's really useful for sneaking around," added Ron, and Jacob snickered.

"I hear you guys do a lot of that."

Hermione blushed and looked guilty. "Anyway, I expect the others are waiting for us."

We walked to the seventh floor and found the tapestry Edward told us about. I was sure that the door across from it hadn't been there before.

I pushed the door open carefully and we piled inside. The rest of the Cullens, minus the two adults, were already there.

"Finally!" cried Alice theatrically, "We've only been waiting half an hour!"

I looked around the mysterious room. It was rectangular with a high ceiling and marble floor. I was positive I'd never seen it before.

"Relax, Alice! They're here now!" teased Edward. He turned to us. "The room only appears when someone needs it, and is always equipped appropriately for those needs."

"This is perfect!" exclaimed Hermione, "How did you find this place?"

"Well," said Emmett with a grin, "if you really want to know, and I doubt you do, Rose and I were looking for somewhere to…"

"Okay, okay, we get it, Em!" interrupted Bella, "No need to give them nightmares!"

"Me?" asked Emmett incredulously, "Give them nightmares? Why, young Isabella, I seem to recall Alice telling me that Harry Boy actually caught you and Edward at it!"

Bella gasped and glared at Alice. The tiny vampire actually flinched away from her stare.

"You traitor, Alice!" she shrieked, "You told _Emmett?_ You're supposed to be my sister!"

"I'm sorry, Bella!" Alice wailed as she took a menacing step forward.

Edward took his vampire wife's arm. "Careful, love," he cautioned, and Jasper stepped protectively in front of Alice.

Bella took a deep breath and smiled sweetly. "Don't worry, Jazz. I won't hurt her…physically."

Alice blinked slowly and then cried out in horror. "You wouldn't!"

Edward started laughing. "Okay, you three," he said to us, "First step in destroying a vampire: Blow up her credit cards!"

"Speaking of which," piped up Rosalie, looking bored, "can we just get on with the lesson?"

"I like that idea!" said Alice quickly, glancing at Bella and wincing, "Where should we start?"

"I think you should teach us the theory first," said Hermione, "It will help give us a better understanding of what we're fighting."

"I agree with Hermione," added Ron, "Know your enemy and all that."

"Your enemy, Ron?" asked Renesmee sadly, "I thought we could be friends, but if that's what you think of us…"

Ron looked horrified at her assumption. "I didn't mean you guys! I just…I mean…"

Renesmee grinned and the rest of the Cullens started laughing at his expression.

"Don't mind my daughter," Edward told him, "She can be a real tease. She gets it from Bella." He scowled at Renesmee, but the silent scolding was lost in the tenderness of his gaze. He was clearly an adoring father.

"Anyhoo," said Alice, "vampires. You've witnessed our strengths; super speed, super strength and enhanced senses, not to mention some of our other talents."

"Our weaknesses, on the other hand," added Bella, "are very few. Only our kind's strength is enough to rip us apart. Vampire and werewolf teeth are the only things that can penetrate our skin, and only vampire venom leaves a scar."

"So what chances do we have?" I asked.

Jasper smiled grimly. "Lucky for you, our kind has one other weakness. Bella mentioned just now that we have venom. Do you know much about that?"

We shook our heads no.

"You three have to remember that we are predators; we're dangerous," said Edward seriously, "When we…bite…venom from our saliva enters the victims bloodstream. It doesn't exactly paralise, but puts our prey in such agonising pain that escape is near impossible. However, if we were to stop feeding, and that alone is difficult enough, the venom will continue to spread through the blood and start changing the body."

I felt Hermione beside me flinch when Edward used the words 'prey' and 'feeding.' He smiled apologetically.

"Please forgive me. That was thoughtless."

Hermione shook her head. "Don't worry about it. It's fine. But what does this have to do with your weaknesses?"

"Our venom is also highly flammable," he explained.

"So if you were to catch fire…" I began.

"We would be dead…well, properly dead…within a matter of seconds," Edward concluded and Bella shuddered.

"Which means all we need to do is light a fire!" said Hermione.

The Cullens grinned at her.

"I trust you all know how?" asked Edward, and Emmett snickered.

"I should hope so!" scoffed Rosalie, making us blush.

"Of course we do!" replied Hermione quickly, "It's just a simple charm. We learnt it in our first year."

"Great!" said Edward, "That's one less thing to learn. Now," he strode casually to the middle of the room and stood stone still, "go ahead."

Hermione, Ron and I exchanged confused glances.

"Er," I began, "what do you want us to do?"

"You say it's an easy charm," he replied, "so prove it. Set me on fire."

"No!" cried Bella harshly. She looked horrified and furious and I presumed she hadn't been in on his plan. She started forward to go to him. "Edward…"

Edward held up a hand. "Stay there, Bella."

Bella narrowed her eyes and didn't stop. "Not likely," she growled, "I don't like this."

"Don't worry about me, love," he said, and flashed her a crooked grin, "I'll be fine."

"He will, Bella," added Alice, "Trust me."

Bella glared at her sister for a minute, probably remembering their argument of ten minutes ago and the last time she trusted her. Finally, she sighed in defeat.

"Fine," she said, then addressed Edward, "But if you get hurt, I will personally kill you."

Edward chuckled. "I love you too, Bella."

She scowled, and Edward looked back at us. "Go on."

Ron and Hermione looked at each other doubtfully. But Edward appeared impatient, so I raised my wand uncertainly and took aim.

"_Incendio!"_

I watched the jet of flame shoot towards Edward, who stood motionless. It was upon him within a second but didn't hit him. Instead, the fire exploded on the back wall and Edward was directly in front of me. He grinned cheekily and prised my wand from my hand effortlessly before I could blink.

"Very good," he praised, "but you can see the problem."

"Your reflexes are too fast!" breathed Hermione, and he nodded.

"So how are you supposed to hit us if we can dodge you so easily? We will need to be unconscious or otherwise distracted."

"But I thought you couldn't be knocked out?" I asked.

"Not in the usual way," replied Bella, "You guys have the advantage in one spell. Can you figure it out? Alice did."

I was confused. They had told us that our spells didn't affect them. I had tried to stun Edward and Alice myself and watched the spell bounce off them.

"Think stronger than _Stupefy," _prompted Edward, grinning, "Much, much stronger."

Hermione gasped and Ron and I looked at her in alarm. She had gone pale. "The _Avada Kedavra!"_ she whispered.

I was abruptly angry. "You want us to use an Unforgiveable Curse on someone?"

Edward was calm. "There aren't many other options if you want to destroy us."

"No way!" I exploded, "That's Voldemort's job! We would never do that, whether they are vampires or not!"

"You wouldn't have any other choice," sniffed Rosalie indifferently, "Unless you want to die."

"Wait a minute," said Hermione suddenly, "you said we have another option. We could distract you."

Edward hesitated. "You could," he agreed slowly, "but there is only one thing strong enough to distract us in the middle of a hunt or battle, and it's very dangerous for you."

Ron snorted. "In case you guys haven't noticed, we're used to danger. Harry has fought You-Know-Who before; what could be more dangerous than that?"

I nodded, agreeing with him. I was extremely averse to using an Unforgiveable Curse on anyone.

Jasper grinned. "You know, Edward, they have a point. It could work."

Edward growled at his brother. "Not a chance. We aren't putting humans in danger any more than necessary."

"Could you just tell us what it is that distracts you?" I asked impatiently.

It was Bella who answered. "The scent of fresh blood. _Human_ blood."

"Oh," said Hermione quietly, "that makes sense."

"Human blood brings out the monster in us without a second thought on our part. We completely lose control and even attack our own family members, the temptation is so strong," explained Jasper. I noticed him shoot Bella an apologetic glance. She rolled her eyes and smiled back.

"I guess that plan's out, then," muttered Ron.

I opened my mouth furiously to protest, but Edward beat me to it. "Don't even try to argue, Harry. It's far too dangerous and we won't allow it. You'll just have to do as we say and practise the Curses."

"What if we don't?" I asked stubbornly.

Bella grinned and exchanged a glance with Edward. "I can think of something to motivate you."

"Bella…" Edward warned, his face darkening, "…this probably isn't a good idea."

"It worked for me," replied Bella.

"That was different," he protested, "Renesmee's your child."

"Relax, Edward," she sighed, "Or I'll make Jasper do it for you."

Edward groaned. "Fine. You're too stubborn for your own good."

Bella's smile widened. "Thankyou!"

I listened in confusion to their exchange and scowled when Bella faced me. I couldn't think of any sort of 'motivation' that would make me hurt her. But then she raised her wand and pointed it at Hermione.

"Use the Cruciatus Curse on me," she ordered, "or I'll use it on her."

Hermione gasped and paled and Edward handed my wand back to me grimly. I couldn't believe my ears. Was she serious? I thought Bella was alright! She had been nothing but nice to us since we'd met her. She treated the three of us with an almost maternal edge, but it seemed there was a whole other, cruel side to her. Instantly, I was furious. I felt my face heat up in anger as I watched Bella take aim directly at my best friend's chest. Hermione was trembling, and Ron seemed frozen in shock. I shook my head slowly and almost missed Bella opening her mouth.

"_Crucio!"_ she cried.

Hermione screamed and jumped out of the way just in time. The curse shattered on the wall behind us and I jumped forward.

"_CRUCIO!"_ I shouted, pointing my wand right at her.

It hit her squarely in the middle of her stomach and she yelled out in pain, doubling over. Edward ran to her so fast I missed the movement. One second he was standing near me, the next he was holding Bella in his arms.

"Enough," he growled, glaring at me, and I felt my anger vanish. I lifted my wand, removing the curse and stared at them.

Bella gasped, shaking, and Edward pressed his lips to her forehead. Renesmee hurried to join them.

"Mum!" She hugged Bella tightly and Bella smiled back weakly.

"Bella, love," murmured Edward, "are you okay?"

"I'm fine!" she replied, her voice only shaking slightly. She looked up at me and grinned. "That was very good, Harry."

I gaped at her for a moment in disbelief. Was she actually praising me for torturing her?

"What the hell was that?" I exploded, "You would've actually hurt Hermione just so I'd do what you told me!"

Bella shook her head. "I'm very sorry I gave you that impression, but Hermione was never in any danger."

I didn't comprehend. "What?"

"I removed my shield so the Curse would affect me and spread it over Hermione instead. If it had hit her, she wouldn't have felt a thing. I figured the best way to anger you into attacking me was to pretend to hurt your loved ones. It's a…technique I learnt once from a good friend."

As soon as I realised Hermione had been safe, I felt horrified at what I'd done. "Damn, Bella, I'm so sorry! Are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine," she repeated, "Really, you shouldn't apologise. I was totally asking for it. And I'm sorry for frightening you, Hermione," she added, "You should know I would never really hurt any of you."

"That's okay," replied Hermione shakily.

"Well," said Alice brightly, breaking the tension in the room, "now that we know Harry is capable of performing an Unforgiveable Curse, I think we should continue practising. My turn now!"

She danced to the middle of the room, and I stared at her. Attacking someone who was a threat to my friends was one thing, but Alice was something else. She was so tiny and fragile-looking! It would feel like blasphemy to hurt her!

Alice rolled her eyes. "I can see you hesitating, Harry, and I can guess why."

Edward nodded at her, confirming her guess.

"You're a thousand times more breakable than me," she told me. I already knew that, but just looking at her made it hard to believe. "Look, I'll prove it."

She beckoned Emmett over, and he complied happily. There was a huge beam on his face as he shifted into a crouch facing her. She didn't even reach his stomach in height! She smiled sweetly and closed her eyes just as Emmett lunged. She dodged swiftly out of the way and laughed. Emmett leaped forward again, a playful snarl erupting from his chest and she dodged again. She moved agilely out of the way of each attack, each one faster than the last, until she launched herself at Emmett from behind, bringing him crashing down to the floor. She had her lips pulled back from her teeth, which were resting on his throat.

Emmett boomed with laughter and stood up, ruffling Alice's hair in a very brotherly action. Alice poked her tongue out at him, giggling. I noticed a large crack in the marble floor where they had fallen.

"No point asking for a rematch, Emmett," she said as he opened his mouth, "I'll only beat you again."

Emmett shut his mouth and shook his head. "One day, Alice."

Alice turned to us, serious again, and raised an eyebrow. "Do you still think I'm too fragile?"

I shook my head, unable to deny it. I was still wary about hurting her, but there was no doubt she was strong enough to handle it. I raised my wand slowly and took aim.

When we left the Room of Requirement, I was still apologising to each Cullen I had cursed. After Alice's turn, Jacob, Edward and Emmett had been willing to be guinea pigs. Jasper and Rosalie would have had a go, but we ran out of time, and Edward and Bella absolutely forbade Renesmee to try, no matter how willing she was. Ron and Hermione weren't quite as comfortable cursing them as I was, so they passed.

"Sorry, sorry!" I said again, and they all just rolled their eyes and laughed.

"You're too damn noble for your own good!" complained Emmett, "Dude, we're fine!"

"Why are you so worried about us?" grumbled Alice, "You're the one fighting vampires! Give us some credit!"

"You shouldn't be so concerned, Harry," said Bella gently, "We know how to take care of ourselves."

I allowed them to soothe my guilt and soon I was calm, but I guessed Jasper might have something to do with that.

"So, same time tomorrow night?" asked Alice enthusiastically. Before we could answer, she continued, "No, maybe not. Day after tomorrow, and we'll bring everyone else along. It can be our first official meeting."

"Just so long as I don't have to curse you again," I mumbled, and she laughed.

"Nope. That's everyone else's job. Oh, I can't wait! It's going to be so much fun!"

"Fun?" I repeated doubtfully. Shooting spells and curses at my classmates didn't sound like my idea of fun.

"If I've learnt something in the last fifty years," said Edward, "it's to never bet against Alice."

"Trust me," said Alice firmly, "You're going to love it."


	12. 15 Control

**Disclaimer:**** I don't own Harry Potter or Twilight. **

**List of POVs:**

**Bella – BPOV**

**Edward – EPOV**

**Renesmee – NPOV**

**Jacob – JPOV**

**Alice – APOV**

**Jasper – JasPOV**

**Emmet – EmPOV**

**Rosalie – RPOV**

**Harry – HPOV**

**Ron – RonPOV**

**Hermione - HerPOV**

**I am so so sorry about the late updates! I have published all the chapters I pre-wrote, so I won't be updating as often now, depending on how fast I write. I will try to get a chapter done at least once a month, so please don't kill me! Sorry sorry sorry!**

**15. Control**

**HerPOV**

Our new private classes with the Cullens were going even better than I'd expected. They had finally convinced me to use the Cruciatus Curse on Jasper after a few sessions, and we were all progressing well.

Even better was the DA, or Dumbledore's Army, as we'd named our defence meetings with our other classmates. Harry was a natural leader, something I couldn't help feeling smug about. I had told him so, after all.

The vampires seemed to be enjoying the DA too. Bella finally got her revenge on Alice when we were practising Reductor Curses in the fourth meeting. She winked at me and pulled a shiny black credit card from the pocket of her robes.

"NOOOO! BELLA!"

Alice's cry echoed across the Room of Requirement, making everyone stop throwing curses at each other and stare at her.

Bella grinned evilly and the light glinted off her sharp white teeth, as she pointed her wand at the card.

"_Reducto!"_ she shouted.

Ashy residue fell lightly to the floor and Alice began to sob. Over everyone's laughter, I heard her wailing words like, "…shoes…Lamborghini…dreams…all gone!"

Even Jasper was having a difficult time not laughing, although that may have been because of the amusement in the room. He pulled his wife onto his lap and patted her back comfortingly, but the corners of his mouth were twitching the entire time.

Bella and I had become closer over the last weeks, and I'd begun to think of her as one of my best friends, besides Harry and Ron. I suppose a part of it was just having another girl to hang out with after spending most of my Hogwarts years with the boys. The nights she didn't disappear with Edward, she stayed up talking with me. She asked me all sorts of questions about my family and life at Hogwarts, and then answered my own.

The Cullens were also getting excited about watching a Quidditch match for the first time. The first game of the year, between Gryffindor and Slytherin, was approaching, and everyone was becoming noticeably eager.

The only exception was Ron. His face was now permanently tinged with green unless Jasper was around to soothe his nerves. Not that Jasper was much help; he and Emmett found Ron's very human reaction to anxiety hilarious ("I haven't seen anything so funny since Bella was human," Emmett chuckled), and they howled with laughter whenever they saw him. Jacob wasn't much better than them, and Rosalie appeared indifferent, but everyone else was understanding and continued to offer words of encouragement.

The morning of the game was cloudy, so the Cullens were able to watch from the stands with the rest of us. Ron was worse than ever at breakfast, and I worried he might pass out from lack of food. We tried to convince him to eat, to no success.

Alice and Jasper wandered over from the Ravenclaw table, as did Luna Lovegood, to wish Harry and Ron luck. Jacob and Renesmee also came over, but returned to the Hufflepuffs after a couple of minutes. Luna was wearing an amazing hat shaped like a lion that let out a deafening roar. Alice growled back, looking like she'd love to set the hat on fire and dance over its ashes. When Luna drifted away, she shuddered.

"I'm going to take her shopping one day and show her how a real hat should look. That was just insulting."

We all laughed, even Ron who had been given a boost of confidence courtesy of Jasper.

"Oi! Jazz!" shouted Emmett from across the hall, "200 galleons on Slytherin!"

Everyone in the hall heard him and laughed, obviously thinking he was joking. When Jasper grinned and called back, "You're on!" they went silent and jaws dropped.

Harry stood up to leave then, and I wished them luck and hugged them. Bella and Alice did the same, while Edward and Jasper grinned encouragingly.

When they were gone, Jasper frowned. "I hope Ron manages to get a grip on his nerves. I don't think I'll be able to help him while he's in the air."

"He'll cope," said Alice grimly, "Although the Slytherins won't help." She glared at their table, and I noticed they were all wearing silver badges.

"What do they say?" I asked, straining to read them from a distance.

"_Weasley is our King,"_ replied Edward, "They seem to think he's so bad that he'll turn the odds in their favour."

"Oh dear," murmured Bella.

"We should go," said Alice as the hall started emptying, "there are still spare seats at the front, and…damn! Oh well, I guess we're sitting in the second row."

Emmett, Rosalie, Jacob, Renesmee, and Doctor and Professor Cullen joined us on our way down to the pitch. A group of Slytherins sat behind our group, ignoring the two teachers with us, and started singing.

"_Weasley cannot save a thing,_

_He cannot block a single ring,_

_That's why Slytherins all sing;_

_Weasley is our King!"_

Alice narrowed her eyes and turned in her seat to glare at them, but they paid no attention to her. I ignored them and focused my attention on the pitch below us. I cheered wildly with everyone else when the Gryffindor team marched out onto the ground, but the singing intensified.

"_Weasley was born in a bin,_

_He always lets the Quaffle in,_

_Weasley will make sure we win,_

_Weasley is our King!"_

Emmett snickered, earning a smack in the head from Rosalie.

"Emmett McCarty Cullen, if you even think of singing along with them…" threatened Professor Cullen. I had never seen her so stern. "I raised you better than for you to be so rude."

Emmett stopped laughing and turned sheepish. "Okay, Mum."

Madam Hooch blew her whistle and the two teams shot into the sky.

"Go Harry! Go Ron!" I shouted, even though there was no hope of them hearing me. It's the thought that counts.

Alice was so excited that she had jumped up onto her seat where she bounced up and down on the soles of her feet.

"Alice, honey, the kids behind you can't see the game," said Professor Cullen.

"Sorry, Esme," she replied, "It's not like they're watching anyway."

As if to prove her point, the Slytherins behind us sang louder. Alice sat down, but couldn't manage to sit still.

"Why are you so excited?" asked Bella, "I'm sure you already know who's going to win."

She rolled her eyes. "It's not the same as watching them win. GO ANGELINA!"

Angelina Johnson threw the Quaffle at the goals, but it was saved by the Slytherin keeper. The Chasers approached Ron, and the singing increased in volume.

Alice groaned and shook her head a second before Slytherin scored. Emmett and Rosalie cheered and it took me a second to remember that of course they'd be supporting their house.

The match continued in much the same fashion and soon Slytherin had a huge lead. I was beginning to think that maybe the song wasn't such an exaggeration after all, and immediately felt ashamed.

"Go Harry!" shouted Alice suddenly.

I watched as Harry sped towards the ground, chased by Malfoy. "He's seen the Snitch!"

"It's about time!" grinned Jasper.

"Oh no!" cried Alice. She grabbed my hand and ran with me out of the stands. Edward and Doctor Cullen followed quickly.

"Alice, what's wrong?" I asked, but the crowd drowned out her reply. Everyone started shouting furiously as a Bludger hit Harry in the back, knocking him off his broom. I gasped.

"He's okay," said Alice, "but Malfoy's decided to pick a fight. I don't know how bad it'll get, but it's a good idea to have Carlisle there just in case."

I started sprinting after her, but she and Edward were out on the pitch long before me. Edward held George's arm to restrain him, and Alice went to help Angelina, Alicia and Katie with Fred.

"I suppose when you've been dragged up by Muggles, even the Weasley's hovel smells okay," Malfoy was saying, "Not to mention the Mudbloods you hang around with!" He shot a dirty look at me and the Cullens. George struggled in Edward's grip and Doctor Cullen grabbed him. Alice looked alarmed and glanced at Edward, who in turn placed a hand on Harry's shoulder. I found out why when Malfoy continued.

"Or perhaps you can remember what _your_ mother's house stank like, Potter, and Weasley's pigsty reminds you of it."

"Enough!" ordered Doctor Cullen as Harry yelled out in rage.

"I've got him, Carlisle," said Edward calmly, holding Harry tighter.

"Don't you notice the stink, Masen?" asked Malfoy, "I suppose you must be used to it, what with you being a bunch of Mudbloods and all. Especially that pretty sister of yours. Have you seen her with all the guys in school? She _reeks_ of slut!"

"Edward, NO!" roared Doctor Cullen.

Before I could blink, Malfoy was on the ground with Edward leaning over him. Malfoy held up his arm defensively, and Edward grabbed it and yanked it away from his face. There was a horrible crunching sound, and Malfoy screamed. Doctor Cullen jumped forward and pulled Edward off him, releasing George in the process. Harry and George took Edward's place and started punching Malfoy until he started bleeding.

"Harry! Stop!" I screamed. He didn't. Finally, he was hit with the Impediment Jinx and flew backwards.

Madam Hooch was furious. "You three go straight to your Head of House's office! Now!"

Harry and George left immediately, but Edward hesitated and I saw his eyes were coal black.

"I'm sorry, Carlisle. I just…lost control."

"I know, son," replied Doctor Cullen, his face grave as he bent over Malfoy, who was whimpering pitifully, hunched over his mangled wrist. Edward nodded and turned away.

"Idiot," muttered Alice as he passed. He didn't even look at her.

**EPOV**

How dare that _vile_ human child call Renesmee, _my_ Renesmee, a slut? He was lucky to have escaped with his head and neck intact. If Carlisle hadn't been there… The thought shocked me and I realised I was contemplating murdering an innocent. Because, no matter how spiteful, the boy _was_ just an innocent human. What was the matter with me?

I stormed to Professor McGonagall's office, furious with myself, and came to a stop outside the door where Harry and George were already waiting.

_How _dare _they? Could have seriously hurt… Why on earth..?_

Professor McGonagall was livid as she stormed down the corridor towards us.

_And for _Cullen_ to attack a student! Albus isn't happy…_

I flinched. I had betrayed the trust Professor Dumbledore had placed in my family. Would he send me away from the school? It was all I deserved if he did. But if he decided to extend the punishment to the others…. Rosalie wouldn't be pleased with me, and Bella was enjoying Hogwarts life so much! I couldn't have that happiness taken away from her!

Professor McGonagall held her door open for us, speechless with fury.

"_In!"_

I ducked my head in shame as I passed her. She was too furious to notice.

"Well?" she demanded, "I have never seen such a disgraceful exhibition. Three on one! Explain yourselves!"

"Malfoy provoked us," replied Harry.

It was the wrong thing to say. Professor McGonagall's hand slammed down on her desk and her biscuit tin fell to the floor. I caught it before it hit the ground; a reflex reaction, and returned it to the desk without a word. She glared at me for a moment and then continued shouting.

"What on earth can he have said that justified what you three..?"

"If I may, Professor," I interrupted smoothly, "Draco greatly insulted members of our families. Of course, nothing he could have said about my daugh- _sister,"_ I caught myself, remembering just in time that George was in the office with us, "can justify my actions and I am sincerely sorry. I am prepared to take full responsibility for my thoughtless behaviour. However, what the boy said about Harry's mother and George's parents is, in their eyes, inexcusable, and I cannot find it to blame them for defending their families. They are only human, after all, and teenagers at that. Their reaction was only to be expected."

"There is no excuse for what these two have done! Do you have any idea what you've...?'

"_Hem, hem,"_ interrupted a voice from the doorway. I let an angry growl build up in my chest when I caught the sickeningly sweet scent of Dolores Umbridge. I glared at her as she entered the office, making my hostility towards her known.

"May I help, Professor McGonagall?" she offered sweetly. _ It was only a matter of time before something like this happened, _she thought smugly, _It only proves just how unstable the Potter boy really is._

"Help?" repeated Professor McGonagall, internally fuming. "What do you mean, _help?"_

She was suspicious, and for good reasons. Umbridge's thoughts were much more cheerful than usual, and it gave me a bad feeling.

"Why," said Umbridge, reacting to Professor McGonagall's cold attitude with innocent surprise, "I thought you might be grateful for a little extra authority."

Harry pictured sparks emitting from Professor McGonagall's nostrils, and I stifled a laugh.

"You thought wrong," she replied, "Now, I am giving you three a week's worth of detentions, and if any of you ever…"

"_Hem, hem."_

Professor McGonagall closed her eyes and breathed in deeply through her nose. _Calm down, Minerva. Strangling your co-worker would _not_ be productive. _"Yes?"

"I think they deserve rather more than detentions."

Of course you do, I thought bitterly. A week of detentions I could deal with; hell, I could do a year of detentions, but I was sure that whatever Professor Umbridge came up with would be unpleasant. Not that it would be any less than I deserved.

Umbridge pulled yet another Educational Degree from her horrid handbag. "…the High Inquisitor will henceforth have supreme authority over all punishments, sanctions and removal of privileges pertaining to the students of Hogwarts, and the power to alter such punishments, sanctions and removals of privileges as may have been ordered by other staff members."

"Well that's convenient," I said sarcastically, "It's almost as though you were hoping for something like this to happen."

Umbridge smiled sweetly. "It was to be expected. These two have _dreadful_ tempers. So, I really think I will have to ban these two from playing Quidditch ever again."

Harry and George's minds were blank, their horror making them unable to form words.

"And for me?" I asked, "You can't take anything from me. I have nothing you can make me give up." I was challenging her; it was part of my nature.

Umbridge was unfazed. "Oh, I'm sure I can think of something. Good afternoon to you all."

She turned and left the room.

Harry and George stared after her, trembling with fury, and Professor McGonagall was so still she could've passed for a vampire.

Umbridge's voice floated back into the room from the corridor. "What are you doing out here, Miss Swan?"

"I was looking for Edward," came my Bella's lovely chiming voice.

"Mr Masen is speaking with Professor McGonagall at the moment," she replied coldly, and I went to the door. "You will have to wait in your common room."

"That won't be necessary, Professor," I cut in quickly. "Hello, Bella."

Professor Umbridge jumped and spun around at the sound of my voice, and Bella rushed up to me immediately.

"Edward!" she cried, taking my hand, "What happened? Alice said that you were in trouble; that you hurt the Malfoy boy!"

I looked away from her concerned golden eyes and ducked my head in shame. "I broke his arm," I admitted.

Bella gasped. "Oh, Edward, why would you do that?" She didn't sound disappointed, only worried. I felt her stone hand brush my cheek. "Are you okay?"

I laughed darkly. "Of course you would be worried about me. I'm fine, love. Have you seen Draco?"

"Briefly. He didn't look too good. Carlisle's with him."

I sighed and turned my face slightly to kiss her palm.

"_Hem, hem."_

I had momentarily forgotten that Umbridge was watching us. I raised my head to meet her disapproving stare.

"Return to your common room, please," was all she said, and she turned on her heel and walked away.

Bella rubbed the hollows under my eyes. "You need to hunt," she murmured.

"That's probably a good idea," I agreed, and let her pull me out of the castle.

We ran through the forest together, our hands linked as we weaved through the trees. Bella threw her head back while she ran, and laughed. The sound of her bell-like laughter cheered me up considerably, and I joined in.

Bella had hunted more recently, so she fed slowly on just two deer while I finished my third and fourth. She went to sit at the base of a large tree and, once I was sure my eyes were light again, I joined her. She pulled me into her arms and stroked my hair softly. I closed my eyes contentedly, and leaned my head into her collarbone.

"So," she murmured, "why did you attack Draco?"

"He was insulting our family," I replied, "I know it's no excuse for what I did, but then he called our Renesmee a slut and I lost control."

I felt a growl rumble in Bella's chest. "He doesn't even know her. He has no right to even think about her that way." She sighed. "You're right; you shouldn't have reacted that way, but I'm glad you did."

I lost track of how long we sat together after that, but it began to grow dark and snow began to fall softly on our faces.

"Shall we head back?" I asked. Bella nodded and we got to our feet and were running in the same second.

"Edward, do you smell that?" she asked after a few moments.

I inhaled deeply, and picked up the odd scent she was referring to. It was mostly human, but had a bitter edge that reminded me a little of the werewolves. The bitterness overrode the rest of the scent, and repelled.

"I've never smelt anything like that before," I commented, "I wonder what it is."

"It's heading towards the castle," observed Bella.

We followed the trail and came out of the forest a few hundred metres from where we entered it. There was a small wooden hut nearby that I had noticed a few times before but ignored. A large figure stepped out of the hut and spotted us at the edge of the trees.

"What're yeh doin' there? Students aren't allowed in the forest!"


	13. 16 Vampires and Giants

**Disclaimer:**** I don't own Harry Potter or Twilight. **

**List of POVs:**

**Bella – BPOV**

**Edward – EPOV**

**Renesmee – NPOV**

**Jacob – JPOV**

**Alice – APOV**

**Jasper – JasPOV**

**Emmet – EmPOV**

**Rosalie – RPOV**

**Harry – HPOV**

**Ron – RonPOV**

**Hermione - HerPOV**

**Sorry about the ending of the last chapter; I didn't mean for it to be a cliffhanger, I just thought it was a good place to lead into the start of this chapter! From the reviews, most of you seem excited that Hagrid's come back into the story, so I hope this chapter lives up to your expectations!! Enjoy!**

**16. Vampires and Giants**

**BPOV**

The man was _huge!_ Not even Jacob was as tall as him. He had long matted brown hair and a thick beard. His face was covered in bruises and cuts, weeping the unappetising scent we had just followed out of the forest. He was such a sight that I found myself tensing up defensively.

Edward relaxed beside me and smiled. "You must be Professor Hagrid!" he called out, taking my hand and striding forward.

_This_ was Hagrid? Harry, Ron and Hermione's friend? I eyed him doubtfully as we approached.

"Yeah," replied Hagrid, "And yeh are?"

"Edward and Bella Cullen," Edward replied, "Professor Dumbledore invited our family at the start of the year to come stay at Hogwarts and protect the school."

"Protect it, eh?" he said suspiciously, "Yeh look like kids ter me."

"We only look like kids," I explained, "Physically, I'm only eighteen, and Edward appears seventeen. Our family is different. We have certain… skills that Professor Dumbledore finds useful."

"Oh yeah?"

"Perhaps we should continue this conversation inside?" suggested Edward, "Some of your wounds look particularly nasty, and I'm sure you'd like to treat them."

"Good point," Hagrid agreed, holding open his front door. "C'mon in, then."

I entered the small, one room hut and looked around. There was a fireplace in one corner and a table in the middle of the room. A large black dog looked up when we walked in, and whimpered uneasily in instinctive fear.

Hagrid gestured to a couple of chairs. "Make yerselves at home."

"Thankyou," said Edward, sitting down and pulling me into the seat beside him.

Hagrid put a kettle of water over the fire to boil and sat across from us. "So what's yer story?"

"We're vampires," replied Edward without hesitation, shocking me.

"Edward!" I hissed.

"It's okay, Bella. We can trust him."

Hagrid looked intrigued. "Vampires, eh? Never met a vampire before."

I remembered Harry mentioning once that Hagrid had a soft spot for dangerous creatures. It figured that he would find vampires fascinating rather than frightening.

"Well, there's eight in our family," said Edward, "plus a half-vampire and a shapeshifter-werewolf."

We started explaining together about our family's lifestyle, but didn't get far before we were interrupted by a knock on the door. I heard three heartbeats and recognised Harry, Ron, and Hermione's scents. Hagrid beamed and went to let them in. Hermione screamed when she saw Hagrid's battered face. Hagrid hushed them quickly and stood aside so they could enter. They pulled their Invisibility Cloak off and stared, horrified, at their friend.

"It's nuthin', it's nuthin'!" Hagrid assured them hastily, but they didn't buy it.

"I wouldn't say it's nothing," I disagreed. The three kids jumped, only then noticing our presence. "Perhaps you should get our father to have a look at you. Carlisle's a doctor."

"It's nuthin'!" he repeated, "I'm dealin' with it, all righ'?"

He crossed to the table and uncovered a huge, greenish steak. I wrinkled my nose against the smell.

"You're not going to eat that, are you, Hagrid?" asked Ron, "It looks poisonous."

"It's s'posed ter look like that, it's dragon meat," he replied, "An' I didn' get it ter eat." He slapped the steak over the worst of his injuries and sighed in relief. "Tha's better."

"What happened to you?" I asked, watching a line of dark blood that dripped onto the table.

"For the last time, _nuthin'!"_

Hermione watched me watch the dripping blood. "Does that bother you?" she asked curiously.

"Not really," replied Edward, "No offense, Hagrid, but your blood smells mildly repulsive. I expect it's the giant in you."

Seriously; giant? Were there _any_ mythical creatures that weren't real? Probably not.

Hagrid dropped the steak. "Who told yeh abou' tha'?"

Edward looked abashed. "I read minds. I apologise for intruding on your private thoughts, but these three," he looked pointedly at Harry, Ron and Hermione, "are rather curious as to where you've been the last few months, and what's happened to you. They're worried."

"Did the giants beat you up, Hagrid?" asked Hermione quietly. Hagrid shot her a dark look. "We guessed," she explained.

"It _was_ kind of…obvious," added Ron, and Harry nodded in agreement.

Hagrid's face softened under the steak, but he tried to hide it behind the gruffness of his voice. "Never known kids like you three fer knowin' more'n yeh oughta. An' I'm not complimenting yeh, neither. Nosy, some'd call it. Interferin'."

I couldn't disagree with him on that point. It had only taken, what – a week? – for them to figure out the truth about us. They were very nosy, as far as humans were concerned.

Harry took his resignation as affirmation. "So you have been to look for giants?"

Hagrid served them mugs of tea and sighed. "Can I get yer anything?" he asked Edward and myself.

"No, thankyou," replied Edward politely, "We just hunted."

I saw Harry, Ron and Hermione shudder slightly out of the corner of my eye. "Anyway…" I prompted.

"Yeah, all righ', I have," he confirmed.

"And you found them?" breathed Hermione.

I saw Edward smile to himself. "Obviously," he murmured, and I elbowed him lightly.

"Well they're not that difficult ter find, ter be honest. Pretty big, see."

This time I snickered and Edward rolled his eyes at me.

"Where are they?" asked Ron.

"In the mountains," replied Edward before Hagrid could. I stared at him, and he looked smug.

"You knew about them?" I accused.

"You never asked," he shrugged, and I frowned. He sighed. "I believe Garrett once had an encounter with one. They are dangerous, even to an immortal."

I shivered, not liking the idea of anything being a threat to vampires. The idea seemed so wrong to me, somehow.

Hagrid hesitated again.

"Come on, Hagrid," encouraged Ron eagerly, "tell us what you've been up to! Tell us about being attacked by the giants, and Harry can tell you about being attacked by Dementors."

Hagrid obviously didn't know about this. He choked and spat out his tea in shock, dropping the steak again. "Whadda yeh mean, attacked by Dementors?" he demanded in an impressive growl.

Harry, Ron and Hermione were just as surprised as him. "Didn't you know?"

Hagrid shook his head furiously.

"Tell us about your summer, and I'll tell you about mine," Harry bargained.

"I'm quite interested in hearing both your stories," I added, "I still don't quite understand what a Dementor is, exactly."

"Oh all righ'," Hagrid groaned, and he started to tell his story.

I found myself listening to the tale with eager interest, and Edward was leaning forward in his chair. A few times I wasn't sure what some of the words he used meant – 'Gurg', 'Gubraithian fire' – but Harry and Ron were as oblivious as me, and asked what they were. I was totally absorbed, gasping at the right moments. Edward laughed at me softly when I twisted my face in revulsion at the part about the chief's head being ripped off. I understood his amusement – what kind of a vampire was sickened by a little violence?

After he finished his story, Hermione spoke up tentatively. "Hagrid? Did you…was there any sign of…did you hear anything about your…your…mother while you were there?"

Hagrid was silent for a moment, and Hermione apologised.

"Dead," he replied gruffly, "Died years ago. They told me."

Edward let out a horrified gasp, and I looked at him. "What's wrong?" I whispered.

"Later," he breathed.

Someone rapped at the door suddenly, breaking the silence, and Hermione dropped her mug in fright. I snatched it before it hit the floor, and we all looked at Professor Umbridge's silhouette in the window by the door.

"Get under that Cloak!" hissed Edward to the others, and they retreated to a corner and threw it over themselves.

Hagrid opened the door, looking rather flustered. Professor Umbridge surveyed him with pursed lips, and entered the house without an invitation.

"Masen, Swan! What are you doing here?" she demanded.

"We thought we would introduce ourselves to Professor Hagrid," replied Edward smoothly, "But we really ought to be getting back. Let's go, Bella. Thankyou for the tea, sir," he added, nodding at the mugs still on the table.

We squeezed past them and left. As soon as the door was shut behind us, Edward took my hand and started running back to the castle with me. We headed straight for the common room and sat in front of the fire. The bottoms of our cloaks were wet with snow, so we let them thaw out in the heat to appear more human.

"What was that about before?" I asked him, "When he said about his mother?"

Edward gritted his teeth together. "That wasn't all he found out about her. She found a new mate when she stayed there, and now Hagrid has a brother. He brought him back with him."

I gasped. "You mean there's a giant hiding in the forest?"

Edward nodded. "Oh well, it's not our problem. We should tell the others, however. Emmett won't be happy if the creature starts scaring off prey."

I smiled fondly. That would be what Emmett would worry about. "What about Harry, Ron and Hermione?"

"Hagrid will tell them eventually. Like I said, it's none of our business."

I sighed and leaned into his chest. "What a horrible day," I muttered.

Edward wrapped his arms around me and smiled. "Well I am very content to end it like this, with you in my arms."

I kissed his nose. "I agree with you completely."

On Monday morning a notice had appeared on the wall in the common room.

_By order of the Hogwarts High Inquisitor, all students are to refrain from displaying affection to each other. This may include holding hands with the opposite gender, hugging, kissing and any other action meant to show affection. Any student caught displaying affection will receive a month of detentions. Signed Dolores Jane Umbridge._

I hissed out loud as I read through the notice. "She can't do this!" I growled, "Why would she?"

Edward stroked my arm gently to soothe me, but his face was tense. "I'm so sorry, Bella, this is my fault. I told her she couldn't take anything from me, but apparently, she can. I never would've expected her to use _you_ to punish me, but when she saw us together…" he trailed off, shaking his head in anger.

"Well, we'll just have to not get caught," I said, determined, "She can't watch us all the time!"

"She has spies," Edward replied, "She has the Slytherins wrapped around her fat little fingers."

I growled deep in my chest. Edward hugged me close and kissed the top of my head. "The Gryffindors won't betray us. We have every night and early morning to spend together. This," he pressed his lips to my forehead roughly, "will have to do for now."

Just walking down to the Great Hall for "breakfast" was hell for me. We walked as close together as possible without actually touching, and I had to settle for the back of his hand brushing against mine every now and then.

The rest of our family were sitting awkwardly at their house tables, unable to cuddle up to their partners under Professor Umbridge's watchful eye. Emmett and Rose were furious, of course. I could almost hear them fuming and was surprised I didn't see steam pouring from their ears. Theirs was the most physical relationship out of us all, and not touching was especially difficult for them.

The new rule only applied to students, so I couldn't help throwing envious glances at Carlisle and Esme at the staff table.

We all met at lunchtime to discuss the turn of events. Rosalie had to blame someone, of course.

"Thanks a lot, Edward!" she hissed, "This is all your fault! You idiot!"

Edward ducked his head. "I know, Rose. I'm sorry. I never expected…"

"How could you not expect this? You can read minds, can't you?" she spat.

"Rosalie," I warned, "Please don't talk to Edward like that!"

"The hell I won't! He's always ruining everything for the rest of us! The damn fool!"

I crouched protectively in front of my husband and pulled my lips back from my teeth. Rosalie hissed back.

"That's enough!" ordered Carlisle, "Bella, control yourself! Rose, apologise to your brother!"

I straightened up and settled for glaring at my sister. "Sorry," I muttered.

Rosalie scowled. "I'm very sorry for speaking to you like that, Edward. Please forgive me," she said grudgingly.

"Of course, Rose," replied Edward, "I understand."

"We're all frustrated," grumbled Jasper, staring down at Alice ruefully.

"You'll all have to just deal with it, I'm afraid," said Esme sympathetically, "I know it's hard for all of you, but you'll manage."

No one could agree with her.

"At least we don't have to worry about Jacob and Renesmee behaving inappropriately," Edward assured me later, "There's always a bright side."

I laughed. "There is that."

On Tuesday morning the entire family had their first lesson with Hagrid. We headed down to his hut full of anticipation. Alice was annoyed that she couldn't see what the half-giant had planned for the lesson, and we teased her for it.

Hagrid was waiting for the class by the forest edge, covered in fresh bruises and carrying a cow's carcass over his shoulder. "We're workin' in here today!" he announced brightly, "Bit more sheltered. Anyway, they prefer the dark."

The class muttered nervously, and I heard panic in some of their voices. Hagrid didn't seem to notice.

When the whole class was present, he started leading us into the forest. Our family strode ahead of the group eagerly, skipping over fallen logs and tree roots that others tripped on. After about ten minutes hiking at an agonisingly slow human pace, we stopped in a dark clearing and Hagrid dropped the carcass on the ground.

"Now, they'll be attracted by the smell o' the meat," he explained.

"I don't see why," muttered Jasper quietly. I knew what he meant. The cow wasn't fresh and stank.

Hagrid threw back his head and cried out like a bird's mating call. He repeated it a few times, until finally one of the horrible winged horses appeared between a couple of trees. Only three other people were watching it, I noticed, and everyone else was staring blankly past it.

Another of the creatures joined the first, and they began eating the cow carcass together.

"Now," said Hagrid, "Put yer hands up, who can see 'em?"

My family all raised their hands, as did Harry, Neville and a Slytherin boy whose name I didn't know.

"Ahh," breathed Edward from beside me, "I see."

"Excuse me," sneered Draco, "but what exactly are we supposed to be seeing?"

"Thestrals," replied Hagrid.

This didn't mean anything to me, but Hermione seemed to understand.

"Righ'," he continued, "now, who can tell me why some o' yeh can see 'em an' some can't?

Hermione's hand shot into the air at once. Hagrid nodded at her, and she replied, "The only people who can see Thestrals are people who have seen death."

That would explain why the vampires could see them, and I'd heard that Harry had watched a classmate die the previous year, so he could obviously see them too. I shuddered as I remembered the death I'd witnessed with perfect recall.

"Ten points ter Gryffindor," grinned Hagrid, "Now, Thestrals…"

I had been too intrigued by the Thestrals to hear the new heartbeat approach the class from behind.

"_Hem, hem!"_

I groaned and looked at her. There goes the good lesson!

***

Hermione was shaking with fury as we headed to our next classes. She cursed Umbridge's name repetitively and ranted for a good five minutes.

"Who have you seen die?" Harry asked the rest of us, inconspicuously changing the subject.

I was hoping he wouldn't ask that. He seemed to realise his own mistake when we all stared at him.

"I have caused the deaths of hundreds of humans," admitted Edward, "I still remember every one of them."

"As have I," shuddered Jasper.

"I wasn't very controlled in the beginning," muttered Alice, "I wish I had belonged to this family when I first awoke."

"I've slipped up a couple of times," added Emmett, "No one's perfect."

"I watched my fiancé die," growled Rosalie, "And good riddance! I recall his screams perfectly."

Harry, Ron and Hermione shivered.

"I watched my mother die," whispered Renesmee, "seconds after I was born. I was there when her heart stopped beating."

I hugged her tightly. "I'm fine now."

"I was also present when Bella died," said Jacob, "I've gotta admit, Edward, that I've never been more grateful than when you sort of saved her."

It was my turn to confess. "I slipped up once. I was still new to this life, and someone started bleeding in front of me. She was so young…maybe twenty or so…"

"I'm sorry," mumbled Harry, "I shouldn't have asked."

"It's okay," Edward assured him, "If anything, we should be the ones apologising. We've probably traumatised you by answering."

Hermione giggled nervously. "Maybe just a little."


	14. 17 Visions

**Disclaimer:**** I don't own Harry Potter or Twilight. **

**List of POVs:**

**Bella – BPOV**

**Edward – EPOV**

**Renesmee – NPOV**

**Jacob – JPOV**

**Alice – APOV**

**Jasper – JasPOV**

**Emmet – EmPOV**

**Rosalie – RPOV**

**Harry – HPOV**

**Ron – RonPOV**

**Hermione - HerPOV**

**17 Visions**

**BPOV**

Christmas approached and I could almost taste the excitement in the air. The atmosphere made Jasper a lot happier than usual, and he in turn spread it onto the rest of us.

It was the last DA meeting before the holidays and we were walking down to the Room of Requirement when Alice gasped delightedly.

"Finally!" she exclaimed.

'What did you see?" several voices asked her.

"Oh, nothing," she replied innocently, and didn't elaborate.

We entered the room and smiled at the Christmas decorations that Harry told us Dobby had put up. Edward beamed and pulled me to the centre of the room where a sprig of mistletoe hung.

"No spies," he leaned down to murmur in my ear, and I grinned. He only had to turn his face slightly to meet my lips. I kissed him back passionately, tangling my fingers in his hair and pulling his face down further to crush myself to him.

Edward pulled back after a minute and chuckled. He kissed me again, briefly. "We have an audience," he reminded me.

I looked around to see that the room was now half full, and everyone was watching us with bemused expressions. "Damn," I sighed.

We split into pairs like always and practised the Impediment jinx on each other. It was highly entertaining for our family, as the curse didn't affect us but we had to pretend it did. At least we were good at standing motionless for minutes at a time, so I think everyone believed it. After this, we practised stunning.

Harry dismissed us after an hour, and Alice beckoned us out of the room enthusiastically.

"What's going on, Alice?" I asked in annoyance, and she beamed.

"Harry and Cho!" she giggled.

"No way!" yelled Emmett, "It's about damn time!"

I grinned. "That's great!"

"That's so cute!" exclaimed Renesmee.

Edward and I headed back to the common room where Hermione and Ron were already waiting.

"Where's Harry?" demanded Ron.

"He's been held up," Edward replied, "He'll be up soon."

"Is it Cho?" asked Hermione smugly.

I grinned. "It might be."

Ron howled with laughter and the rest of us chuckled quietly.

Hermione pulled out a long piece of parchment and started writing a letter, a small smile on her face, and Ron started his Transfiguration homework. Edward sat on the floor and I lay next to him with my head in his lap. He stroked my hair gently and I closed my eyes with a sigh.

Harry didn't return until half an hour later, wearing a shocked expression. I giggled quietly as he sunk into a free armchair and stared at the fire blankly.

"Are you alright, Harry?" asked Hermione in concern, setting her parchment aside.

He shrugged silently, and Hermione and Ron looked at each other.

"What's up?" asked Ron, "What happened?"

Harry didn't answer, and Edward intervened. "Just tell them."

He shot Edward an annoyed glare, and I pressed my lips together to stop myself laughing.

"Was it Cho?" Hermione prompted, and he looked at her, surprised. He nodded.

Ron snickered. "So…er…what did she want?" he asked innocently.

"She," Harry choked, "she…er…"

Hermione was impatient. "Did you kiss?" she burst out uncharacteristically.

We watched him eagerly, awaiting his answer. After a moment's hesitation, he nodded. I let myself beam at him, and Ron laughed loudly, causing Harry to turn red.

"You already knew we would," he told Edward and I, frowning half-heartedly.

"Alice told us earlier," I confirmed, smiling, "I'm really happy for you!"

Harry's frown turned into an embarrassed grin.

"Well?" asked Ron bluntly, "How was it?"

Edward snorted at the question, and perhaps the answer in Harry's mind.

"Wet," he replied after a moment, earning a look of disgust. "She was crying," he clarified.

"Well that's not _too_ bad," I said slowly, looking at Edward, "I still remember our first kiss."

He chuckled back. "Was that the time you were a touch eager, or the time you fainted on me?"

Harry and Ron looked up in interest. "What happened?" asked Harry, clearly trying to pull the subject away from him. "You seriously fainted?"

"I forgot to breathe," I laughed, "It wouldn't be a problem now."

"But what sort of person cries while someone's kissing them?" Ron continued indignantly.

Hermione sighed in annoyance and stared at them. I knew how she felt; she wouldn't need to explain this to a girl.

"Don't you understand how Cho's feeling at the moment?" she asked, then continued before they could answer, "Well, obviously she's feeling very sad, because of Cedric dying. Then I expect she's feeling confused because she liked Cedric and now she likes Harry, and she can't work out who she likes best. Then she'll be feeling guilty, thinking it's an insult to Cedric's memory to be kissing Harry at all, and she'll be worrying about what everyone else might say about her if she starts going out with Harry. And she probably can't work out what her feelings towards Harry are, anyway, because he was the one with Cedric when Cedric died, so that's all very mixed up and painful. Oh, and she's afraid she's going to be thrown off the Ravenclaw Quidditch team because she's been flying so badly."

"Poor girl," I murmured, and Edward nodded in agreement.

"One person can't feel all that at once," Ron said, sounding stunned, "they'd explode."

Edward and I laughed. "Just ask Jasper," he advised, "Although I admit it is unusual for a human to feel so many mixed emotions."

"That's the way love works," I sighed, and watched Harry's face redden at the mention of love.

Edward and I went up to the boy's dormitory with Harry and Ron, after wishing Hermione a goodnight. We lay together on Edward's bed, with his arms around my waist, and we stared into each other's eyes, occasionally pecking the other on the lips or nose.

Eventually I heard Harry and Ron's breathing deepen as they dropped off to sleep, and I rested my head against Edward's chest, closing my eyes contentedly. "I love you," I whispered and felt his lips press gently against my forehead.

**APOV**

_A huge snake slithered down a dark stone hallway. A man was sleeping several metres away, slumped against a door, a silvery Cloak spread on the floor beside him. The snake tasted the air with her tongue, hissing quietly, and the man awoke. He spied the snake and leapt to his feet, withdrawing a wand from his pocket. The snake struck the man's torso with her sharp fangs, cracking his ribs, spilling his warm, delicious blood…_

I pulled myself out of the vision with a cry as soon as I watched his blood spill. Just the look of it was so tempting, made me so _thirsty…_

I shook my head to clear it of the thirst, and became aware of Jasper supporting me unnecessarily. "What is it?" he asked urgently, "What did you see?"

"Arthur Weasley…there was a huge snake…so much blood…"

Jasper hugged me to his chest. "We need to speak to Professor Dumbledore."

I nodded, and we left the common room, slightly too fast in our urgency.

**BPOV**

Edward stiffened with a gasp, his eyes horrified. He looked over to where Harry was twitching in his sleep and lurched himself off the bed.

"What's the matter?" I asked, frightened.

He looked back at me, and his eyes were black, despite our hunting trip just last week. He fell to his knees and grabbed the bed frame. I ran to him with a cry, but he stopped me. "Stay where you are! I don't want to hurt you!"

If I could've cried, I would've, I was so scared. I watched Edward clench his jaw together as though in restraint, and then sink his teeth into the mattress. I screamed in distress, waking the other boys.

"Wake him!" panted Edward, hunching over himself with his jaw locked.

I turned to Harry, who was now thrashing around and covered in sweat, and shook him awake. Ron joined me.

"Harry! HARRY!"

Harry gasped and opened his eyes, sitting bolt upright. At the same time, Edward relaxed, his eyes remaining wary. I went straight to his side and stroked his face anxiously. "Are you okay?" I asked frantically, "What happened?"

Harry was panting, holding his head as though it was about to fall apart. He leaned over and I smelled the sickly scent of fresh vomit. Ron held his shoulder while he got his breath back.

"Your dad," he moaned, "Your dad's…been attacked…"

I stared at Edward with wide eyes. Had he seen this? But what had caused his reaction?

"What?" asked Ron blankly.

"Your dad!" Harry repeated, "He's been bitten, it's serious, there was blood everywhere…"

I gasped when he said 'bitten', my mind automatically fearing the worst. "What bit him?" I demanded anxiously.

"A snake…it was huge…he was bleeding so much…"

I relaxed slightly once I knew it hadn't been a vampire attack.

"It wasn't a dream!" Edward hissed to me urgently, "I saw it too! It was from the snake's perspective! I _tasted_ the blood!"

I gasped. No wonder he was in so much distress! I understood why he bit the mattress, instead of the delicious humans in the room…the control it must have taken…

Neville re-entered the room – I hadn't realised he'd left – and Professor McGonagall followed.

"It's Ron's dad!" gasped Harry at once, "He's been attacked by a snake and it's serious, I saw it happen."

Professor McGonagall frowned. "What do you mean, you saw it happen?"

"He had a vision!" said Edward, regaining control and standing up. I clutched his hand tightly. "It's true…he saw everything."

"I believe you, Potter," said Professor McGonagall, "Put on your dressing gown…we're going to see the Headmaster."

Harry moved immediately, pulling on his dressing gown and glasses without hesitation. The actions weren't weak at all, which surprised me.

"We're coming too," announced Edward so firmly that Professor McGonagall didn't argue.

"Weasley, you ought to come too," she said.

The four of us followed her through the corridor, and Edward left for a moment to find Carlisle. He returned under a minute later with both Carlisle and Esme hurrying along urgently.

"Are you okay, Harry?" asked Carlisle, the doctor side of him taking over.

"I'm fine." He was still pale and sweaty, and his voice shook, so I wasn't surprised they didn't believe him. Esme put a reassuring arm around his shoulder and pulled him along slowly.

"It's okay, dear," she told him quietly.

We reached the gargoyle that guarded the Headmaster's office, and it sprung aside when Professor McGonagall gave the password. We ascended the spiral staircase quickly, and the door swung open before Professor McGonagall could knock.

Alice stood there, looking worried, and Jasper was a few feet behind her. Professor McGonagall ushered us inside, and Professor Dumbledore stood up from his desk.

"What happened?" he asked.

"I am assuming Alice has already told you," said Edward, "Harry had the same vision."

Jasper slipped out of the room silently and Albus looked at Edward calmly.

"How did you see this?" he asked Harry, not meeting his eyes.

"I don't know…in a dream," Harry replied in an annoyed tone.

"You misunderstand me. I mean…can you remember…er…where were you positioned as you watched the attack happen?" he clarified.

"Tell him," murmured Edward.

Harry hesitated. "I was the snake," he admitted, "I saw it all from the snake's point of view."

"It was as though he was in the snake's mind," added Edward, "I heard his thoughts. When the snake bit Arthur…it took all my control not to attack anyone myself. It was very realistic."

Carlisle shot a look at him, and he nodded.

Albus was calm…he reminded me a bit of Carlisle. "Is Arthur seriously injured?" he asked finally.

"_Yes,"_ replied Harry, Edward and Alice.

"He doesn't have long left," said Alice, "You need to send help _now."_

Harry and Ron shivered at her words.

Albus addressed two of the portraits on the wall. "Everard? And you too, Dylis!" The portraits snapped to attention immediately, if drowsily. "You were listening?"

They nodded.

"The man has red hair and glasses. Everard, you will need to raise the alarm, make sure he is found by the right people…"

Both portraits nodded again and left their frames. Alice relaxed. "They will find him in a couple of minutes," she informed us, "He will be taken straight to the hospital. He is badly injured, but he's alive."

Professor McGonagall conjured chairs out of nowhere, and Harry and Ron sat down. The rest of us remained standing.

Albus stroked his pet phoenix's head. "We will need a warning," he murmured. The phoenix was engulfed in flames and disappeared.

We were all silent until the portraits reappeared, and gave Albus the news Alice had already told him.

Jasper came back then, followed by Rosalie, Emmett, Jacob, Renesmee, Ginny, Fred and George.

The Weasley children looked frightened.

"Harry…what's going on?" asked Ginny, "Professor McGonagall says you saw Dad get hurt…"

Albus filled them in. "I am sending you back to Sirius' house, which is much more convenient for the hospital than the Burrow. You will meet your mother there."

He created a Portkey from an old black kettle, and summoned everyone forward. We placed a finger each on the kettle.

"One…two…" before Albus could say 'three', Edward tensed. _"Three."_

The world was spinning suddenly, and we were glued to the kettle. We flew faster and faster, and then we were back on solid ground.

Harry and the Weasleys were on the ground, having fallen on impact, but everyone else was standing. We helped them up, and looked around. We were in the kitchen basement of Sirius' house. Sirius himself hurried towards us anxiously.

"What's going on?"

We filled him in hurriedly, Harry, Alice and Edward supplying the details. Ginny, Fred and George looked curious as to how our family was involved.

"We've got to get to St Mungo's," said Ginny, looking ready to leave right then.

"Hang on," interrupted Sirius, "You can't just go tearing off to St Mungo's!"

"Course we can!" exclaimed Fred, "He's our dad!"

"And how are you going to explain how you knew Arthur was attacked before the hospital even let his wife know?"

"I saw it too," suggested Alice, but Carlisle shook his head.

"We don't want them finding out about your gifts, Alice. It's best not to."

"And we don't want to be drawing attention to Harry for that matter, either," said Sirius logically. "Especially since your father was injured whilst on duty for the Order."

"We don't care about the dumb Order!" yelled Fred.

"It's our dad dying we're talking about!" shouted George.

Alice looked at Jasper meaningfully and they calmed down a little.

"Your father will be okay," she told them, "Trust me; if anything were to happen I'll know. I'll be watching out for him. There is nothing else you can do for him now."

"What do you mean?" asked Ginny wearily, "Alice, you said you saw the attack too. What's going on?"

Alice sighed. "I may as well tell you…you can be trusted for this much at least. I have visions of the future. I will see it if something changes with your father's condition."

"You all need to relax," said Jasper, "Actually, I'm not even asking that much…you just need to calm down a bit."

They sighed, and Ginny collapsed into a chair, exhausted.

"You should sleep," advised Carlisle, but she shot him a look, and we knew none of them were going to sleep tonight.

Esme moved Ginny to the side so she could sit down, and sat her in her lap, cradling her gently. "It'll be okay, honey."

The others sat down, too, and Sirius summoned bottles of Butterbeer for everyone who could drink. The kitchen was silent, save for the thuds of bottles being set on the table, and the crackling of a fireplace.

Finally, the door swung open and Molly Weasley entered the kitchen. "He's going to be alright," she told us, her voice shaky, "He's sleeping. We can all go and see him later."

The tension in the room eased at once. George stood up to give his mother a hug, and Esme let Ginny down to join them. Ron laughed in relief and Fred slumped back in his chair. Harry looked particularly relieved. I let out the breath I hadn't realised I'd been holding, and Edward embraced me. The rest of our family also unfroze, and hugged and kissed each other. Jasper was looking much happier, now that the Weasleys' depression wasn't affecting him anymore.

Sirius started to make breakfast, after failing in calling Kreacher down, and Esme helped. Harry and Mrs Weasley got up to help, but she insisted they sit down and rest.

"Sirius," mumbled Harry after a while, his voice tense, "Can I have a quick word? Er…_now?"_

Edward hesitated, as though to follow them out of the room, but then he looked down at me, and relaxed back into our chair. "He's concerned about his vision," he told me in a whisper, "He's worried something's wrong with him."

The humans slept for the rest of the morning, all except for Harry. We heard him moving around his room, and the creak of the bed frame when he shifted.

"Should we go talk to him?" I asked Edward, but he shook he's head.

"He just wants to be alone. He'll talk when he's ready."

I nodded in agreement, but I couldn't help feeling worried about the boy. He was a good friend, and I didn't like the idea of him hurting over something like this. Maybe it was my maternal instincts, but I wanted to comfort him.

I sat on the edge of Renesmee's bed and smoothed her hair out of her sleeping face. If I couldn't help Harry, at least I could look after my own child.


	15. 18 Worry

**Disclaimer:**** I don't own Harry Potter or Twilight. **

**List of POVs:**

**Bella – BPOV**

**Edward – EPOV**

**Renesmee – NPOV**

**Jacob – JPOV**

**Alice – APOV**

**Jasper – JasPOV**

**Emmet – EmPOV**

**Rosalie – RPOV**

**Harry – HPOV**

**Ron – RonPOV**

**Hermione - HerPOV**

**18. Worry**

**BPOV**

We left for the hospital in the early afternoon, accompanied by Mad-Eye and Tonks. It was a pleasant walk to the train station, the air apparently chill, though we vampires didn't notice.

The busy London streets had Alice practically dancing in enthusiasm. We would occasionally have to stop and wait for her as she ducked into shops and came out again with full shopping bags.

"We're going to a hospital, Alice," I reminded her. "Don't you think you're acting a bit…tactless?"

She pouted. "When else am I going to get a chance to Christmas shop?"

"On the way back," Edward said firmly.

"Fine," she huffed, dumping the many bags into Jasper's arms with a scowl.

We stopped outside an old, run-down department store, and Tonks spoke brightly to one of the mannequins.

"Wotcher, we're here to see Arthur Weasley."

We watched in surprise when the mannequin nodded and beckoned us forward, and then when Tonks grabbed Ginny and Mrs Weasley to steer them through the glass window. They vanished on the other side, and the rest of us followed them through.

We came out in a bright hospital reception area, the smell of antiseptic and bleach heavy in the air.

"Wait here," Mrs Weasley told us, and headed to the Enquiries desk.

We looked around, reading the posters and laughing quietly at some of the many injuries the wizards had sustained.

The witch at the desk directed Mrs Weasley to the "Dai Llewellyn Ward" on the first floor, and we walked quickly through corridors and up a flight of stairs until we arrived outside Mr Weasley's room.

The Weasley's and Harry went inside first, leaving the rest of us waiting by the door. When Mrs Weasley opened the door for them to go inside, an awful smell drifted out into the corridor. It was so bad that I cut off my air supply and held my breath.

"What is that?" I hissed through clenched teeth.

"By the stink, I'd say it's a werewolf," replied Emmett, holding his nose.

"A new werewolf," added Carlisle, "Probably only days old."

"It's not that bad," shrugged Jacob, "You guys smell worse."

"Is it safe?" asked Jasper, eyeing the closed door doubtfully, "Maybe we shouldn't go in."

"Don't be ridiculous," grunted Mad-Eye, "It's not a full moon for a couple of weeks. You'll be perfectly safe."

"That's not the problem," murmured Edward, "That's a true werewolf in there. The Children of the Moon are the natural enemies of our kind. The Quilleutes are our greatest friends compared to them."

"But we're okay around Remus," I said. The smell of Lupin wasn't as strong as this, at least.

"I think we should be alright," said Carlisle, "Like Alastor said; it's still two weeks til the full moon. It will be in human form and should pose no threat. But if you don't think you can control yourself, perhaps you should wait outside."

Rose was first to volunteer to stay outside, to no one's surprise. She said something about how it would take her weeks to wash out the smell. Emmett wanted to stay with her, and Jasper didn't trust himself to go in just yet.

The rest of us went in with Mad-Eye and Tonks when the children came out. Arthur was lying in a bed by the window, looking rather cheerful despite his situation, and smiled at us.

"Hey," he said brightly.

We greeted him happily, although I couldn't help shooting tense looks at the new werewolf in the bed opposite him.

"How are you?" I asked.

"I'm fine," he replied honestly, "If I didn't keep bleeding every time they take the bandages off, I'd be fit as a fiddle!"

"Maybe I could take a look?" suggested Carlisle, examining the bandages with an interested expression.

Arthur nodded in agreement. "Maybe later, if the Healers don't mind."

"So what happened?" asked Edward quietly, "I watched the vision through Harry's mind, but we don't know anything new…"

"We don't know," whispered Tonks, "They searched the whole area, but couldn't find the snake anywhere. It just seems to have vanished after it attacked you, Arthur…but You-Know-Who can't have expected it to get in, can he?"

Alice shook her head. "It wouldn't have got in, even if Arthur wasn't on guard. It was there for another reason."

"I reckon he sent it as a lookout," said Mad-Eye, "'cause he's not had any luck so far, has he? No, I reckon he's trying to get a clearer picture of what he's facing."

"But do we know what _we're _facing?" asked Carlisle. "Alice, have you seen any more from the Volturi?"

"No," said Alice grimly, "I still see Voldemort going to them, but he hasn't yet. I don't know why. He's taking his time, I think, trying to find a good reason for them to join him."

"Like us," I muttered, "If he doesn't know already."

"It's only a matter of time before he finds out," said Mad-Eye, "The Potter boy could unintentionally help him with that."

"You think he's using Harry as a spy?" asked Edward sharply.

"We know there's something funny about Potter," he replied, "He saw the attack happen, after all."

"Dumbledore seemed worried about Harry when I spoke to him this morning," added Mrs Weasley, "He would know what's going on."

"Well, if the boy's being possessed, I can't think of many other reasons other than to spy for You-Know-Who," said Mad-Eye.

"You never know," said Carlisle.

Edward's head shot up to face the door. "The children are listening to us," he breathed.

Everyone else looked at the door as well. "Did they hear?" asked Mad-eye, and he nodded.

"Harry?" I whispered.

"Yes. He heard everything. They're terrified."

"We should go," said Esme nervously, "I'll take them. You come too, Alice, Nessie, Bella."

We followed her out of the ward after giving Arthur our best wishes, and frowned disapprovingly at the eavesdroppers, but otherwise gave no sign we knew they'd been listening.

"Come on, you guys," exclaimed Alice brightly, "We can finish our Christmas shopping! The others will meet us later."

Harry was pale, and the Weasleys kept giving him frightened glances, but they followed us back down to the reception area without saying anything.

"They're genuinely afraid of him," Jasper told us quietly so they wouldn't hear, and Esme touched Harry's arm sympathetically.

Emmett wasn't at all worried, like usual, and Rosalie didn't seem to care.

Alice was mainly responsible for making conversation, and our group was otherwise silent as we weaved in and out of shops.

***

"That's not true, Harry," murmured Edward as the train lurched forward through a tunnel, "You're _not_ a weapon, and the protection _is_ for you."

Harry looked at him desperately. "How can you be sure?"

"Mind reader, remember?" Edward tapped the side of his head with a smile.

"Nobody thinks badly of you, Harry," I told him gently, "We all care about you." I hugged Renesmee tightly to my side.

"Of course we do," my daughter added matter-of-factly.

He let himself smile a little, but it looked more like a grimace. "Thanks."

"He doesn't believe us," Edward whispered in my ear, and a wave of sympathy washed over me.

Back at Grimmauld Place, Harry retreated to his room alone. From downstairs, we heard him pacing back and forth.

"I'm going to talk to him," I said finally, pulling away from Edward.

"I don't know if that's a good idea, Bella," he replied, "He wants to be left alone."

"I don't care. He _needs_ to talk to someone, and I need to make him feel better."

I think Renesmee had brought out my motherly instincts, and so I behaved similarly to Esme when it came to upset humans. It was something I needed to do, the way I used to need to comfort Renesmee when she was scared, or rock her to sleep when she had a nightmare.

I walked up the stairs slowly and tapped on Harry's door gently to let him know I was there. When he didn't answer, I creaked the door open the slightest fraction and slipped inside. He was lying on his bed, facing the wall, appearing to be asleep, but his heart was beating too fast and his breaths were too shallow, so I wasn't fooled.

"Hey," I whispered. He didn't reply. "I know you're awake, Harry, so please look at me."

He rolled over with a sigh and opened his eyes. "Hi Bella."

I watched him uncertainly, hesitating. He clearly wanted to be left alone, so I felt like an unwelcome intruder.

"Do you mind if I talk to you for a few minutes?" I asked finally. He stared back at me with bright green eyes for a long moment before nodding reluctantly.

I went to sit on Ron's bed, and he sat up to face me.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

He shrugged, and I saw him glance at his suitcase, zipped tightly shut.

"You can't leave," I told him, reading his intentions on his face.

"I have to," he mumbled, "I'm a danger to everyone around me."

"So am I." I smiled faintly. "If you leave, you'll hurt everyone else. Trust me. They all care for you very much."

"At least I won't be putting them at risk. You heard what Moody said in the hospital. I'm being _possessed."_

I shook my head. "That's just a theory. I don't believe it, and you shouldn't either. You are strong, Harry. You wouldn't hurt anyone."

He looked at me silently, and I could see purplish shadows under his eyes; the kind I got when I was thirsty.

"You need to sleep," I told him firmly, and put my hand up when he opened his mouth to protest. "I'll stay with you, if it makes you feel better. I'll make sure you don't start sleep-walking with an axe and go around killing everyone."

He grinned a little at my attempt at humour, and yawned.

"Sleep," I repeated, "I promise nothing will happen."

He lay down tentatively, and pulled the blanket up to his chin. He frowned, and I could tell he would have trouble sleeping, so I went to kneel next to his bed and started humming the same lullaby I used to hum to Renesmee.

Before long, his breathing deepened and he fell asleep, still frowning, and I was left alone with my thoughts. If Voldemort really was messing with his head through dreams, perhaps I could help. I stretched my shield over his sleeping form, and the frown vanished. I smiled to myself.

I felt something; the very faintest pressure on my mind, fluttering around the edges of my shield. It wasn't at all uncomfortable; it was actually rather pleasant, and it scared the hell out of me.

When Harry awoke, I could tell I hadn't convinced him, and he spent the next day moping around upstairs, away from company. He shunned us whenever we tried to talk to him and casually started walking in the opposite direction when we approached. I realised I wasn't the only one worrying about him, either.

At six in the evening, Hermione arrived, after guiltily ditching her parents skiing trip for her friends. I opened the door for her and carried her suitcases upstairs, explaining the situation. She was concerned and immediately went to talk to Harry.

I watched her dart out of her bedroom without even greeting the others and smiled to myself. If anyone could make Harry see sense, it was Hermione.

"What are you grinning about?" asked Emmett, strolling into the room and ruffling my hair.

I jumped out of the way and punched his shoulder lightly. "Oh, Hermione's going to talk to Harry, and I think he'll finally listen."

Emmett rolled his eyes. "That's great. Anyway, Bells, everyone's going hunting, you want to come?"

I grinned. "Of course! Bring on the grizzly bears!" I said, and dashed out of the room.

"Not if I get them first!" Emmett called, following me.

We raced to the back door, where I jolted to a stop in Edward's arms.

"I'm sure there's enough to go around," he told us both, grinning.

The others joined us and we ran to the forest outside the house, where we spent the rest of the night hunting.

When we returned the next morning, I was pleased to find Harry in a much better mood. He grinned at me over his cereal. "Hey, Bella."

I put my hands on my hips and watched him. "So they finally talked some sense into you, did they?" I asked, mockingly stern. He nodded sheepishly. "It's about time."

"Yeah, sorry about that."

I dropped my arms and smiled. "Don't be sorry. I'm glad you're feeling better." And then, in a spontaneous gesture, I gave him a quick hug.

Edward came in to find me like that, and beamed. "You're an amazing person, Bella," he told me when Harry had finished eating and we were alone in the kitchen.

I looked down, hiding my embarrassed smile. Edward put a finger under my chin and lifted my head back up to kiss me.

For the next few days, we cheerfully helped decorate the house to make it more festive, stringing tinsel and golden lights across the ceilings, and hanging up holly and mistletoe over some of the doorways. Alice was in charge of the decorating, of course, and I couldn't even manage to be frustrated at her intense enthusiasm.

Esme and I helped Mrs Weasley in the kitchen, making dozens of gingerbread men and fruit cakes with good humour. Whenever Fred or George would sneak down to try and steal our freshly made cooking, I would laugh and tap them over the head with the spoon sternly, and then Esme would give them a plate of shortbread to take upstairs. We caught them every time, much to their dismay.

I went out alone to finish my Christmas shopping, my wallet stuffed full of cash, and returned with it empty. To make up for destroying Alice's credit card, I bought her the Lamborghini she had been intending to buy, and asked Jacob to pick it up on Christmas day so she wouldn't see. For the rest of my family, I bought the usual clothes and jewellery and books and other trinkets they wanted.

Hermione, Harry and the Weasleys were trickier to shop for. I got Ron and the twins top-of-the-range Quidditch gear that Alice assured me they would love, and I got Ginny a set of delicate pearl jewellery. For Hermione, who I knew hated her thick bushy hair, I found an expensive hair straightener, and for Harry I eventually bought a relatively accurate book on vampires, which I handed him with a wink.

"This guy actually knows some stuff," I told him, "Although apparently we're still burned by the sun."

Harry laughed and thanked me, and I left to give the others their presents.

Downstairs, Esme was making a very upset Mrs Weasley a cup of tea. "Ron's older brother, Percy, sent back his gift," Edward told us, and we frowned angrily. The twins wanted to comfort her, but we stopped them, knowing what their idea of 'comforting' was.

"Insulting him won't help," Alice murmured.

"Even if he is a total pile of shit," added Emmett, for once mildly serious.

We drove to the hospital in Alice's new car, which she was still thanking me for, even as she sped down the London streets. Ron looked pale, and Alice warned him not to throw up in her 'new baby', or else. It didn't help that she turned around to tell him this, still driving at 100mph.

Edward chuckled when we entered Mr Weasley's room, and I guessed it might have had something to do with the sheepish look on Arthur's face.

The stink of werewolf wasn't as strong as last time, but it was still uncomfortable to be around.

Mrs Weasley soon noticed that Arthur was wearing fresh bandages, and asked him why they had been changed a day early. Mr Weasley turned red and explained that they had tried stitches on his wounds.

Sensing the explosion, most of us said a quick goodbye and headed for the tea room.

"Let Carlisle sort it out," said Jacob, flinching when we heard Mrs Weasley start yelling. "He'll tell her all about stitches."

"They were probably his idea," chortled Emmett.

"No they weren't," said Edward, shaking his head, "Although he's disappointed they didn't work. He doesn't trust magical remedies."

"Too bad," sighed Alice, "I'd love to see Molly go off at Carlisle…can you imagine it?"

We all laughed at the picture in our heads.

"Typical Dad, though," muttered Ginny, "Stitches…I ask you…"

"They actually work very well on non-magical wounds," said Hermione, but she was also shaking her head in exasperation.

We reached the fourth floor, and started up the staircase to the fifth, when Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny stopped and stared ahead in shock. We followed their stunned gaze to see a blonde man smiling brightly at them under a door marked SPELL DAMAGE.

"Professor Lockhart!" gasped Hermione, sounding faint. I thought back and remembered her telling me stories about her second year at Hogwarts. This man had been their useless Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, until a memory charm had backfired and completely erased his memories. He didn't seem to be doing so well.

"Well hello, there!" he beamed at us, "I expect you'd like my autograph, would you?"

Emmett, Jasper, Jacob, Alice and Rosalie snorted with laughter, while the rest of us watched him curiously. He pulled us into his ward, escorted by a matronly looking Healer, and started sorting through photographs. Edward and Jasper tensed, staring in horror at two beds in the corner that had floral printed curtains around them.

"Oh dear," whispered Alice solemnly, following their stare.

Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny didn't seem to notice their preoccupation, until the Healer mentioned the name Longbottom. Their heads snapped around in time to see Neville and an old woman who I presumed to be his grandmother leaving.

"_Neville!"_ called Ron brightly, and we groaned. Neville caught sight of us, and turned white, looking at his feet.

"Ah, yes," said his grandmother, watching Harry with appraising eyes, "I know who you are, of course." They shook hands, before Mrs Longbottom turned her gaze on Ron and Ginny, "And you two are clearly Weasleys. And you must be Hermione Granger?" she asked Hermione, who nodded and shook her hand. "And the rest of you...?"

"These are the Cullens," mumbled Neville very quietly, "I told you about them, they're the new students, remember?"

"Ah yes, of course! Neville has told me all about you all. He's a good boy, but he hasn't got his father's talent, I'm afraid to say." She nodded toward the beds in the corner, and everyone gasped.

"What?" asked Ron in amazement, and we groaned again at his bluntness, "Is that your _dad_ down the end, Neville?"

Mrs Longbottom scolded Neville for not telling his friends about his family before. "It's nothing to be ashamed of!"

"I'm not ashamed," murmured Neville, and I didn't doubt the sincerity. I had the strangest urge to fold him in an embrace and comfort him.

Mrs Longbottom explained to us how Neville's parents came to be there, when his wispy haired mother wandered over. "Yes, Alice dear, what is it?"

I now understood why Neville seemed upset when we had first introduced our Alice to him. His mother now held out her hand and gave him an empty sweet wrapper.

"Thanks, Mum," whispered Neville. His mother smiled vaguely and turned to go back to her bed. Our Alice stopped her and we watched as she leaned up to kiss her on the cheek.

"I'm sorry," she said seriously, then turned back to us, "We should go."

We left the ward without saying goodbye. Hermione and Ginny both looked close to tears.

"I never knew," Hermione whispered, and the Weasleys murmured their agreement.

"I did," mumbled Harry, "That's what Bellatrix Lestrange got sent to Azkaban for."

"The damage is permanent," said Alice grimly, "They'll never get better."

"Bellatrix Lestrange did that?" asked Hermione in horror, "The woman Kreacher's got a photo of in his den?"

"The worst monsters aren't always vampires or werewolves, or any other creature," I growled, "Sometimes, the humans are just as bad."


	16. 19 Bites

**Disclaimer:**** I don't own Harry Potter or Twilight. **

**List of POVs:**

**Bella – BPOV**

**Edward – EPOV**

**Renesmee – NPOV**

**Jacob – JPOV**

**Alice – APOV**

**Jasper – JasPOV**

**Emmet – EmPOV**

**Rosalie – RPOV**

**Harry – HPOV**

**Ron – RonPOV**

**Hermione – HerPOV**

**Thanks for all the great reviews!! I made up the plot for this chapter, which is more Twilight-based than Harry Potter, so tell me what you think!**

**19. Bites**

**BPOV**

We trudged back down to Arthur's room silently, all horrified by the confrontation. We hoped very much that Mrs Weasley was in a better mood.

"There you all are!" said Mrs Weasley, "Where did you go?"

"Cup of tea," grunted Ron, collapsing on a spare bed. "What'd we miss?"

"Nothing of importance," said Arthur quickly, and I was sure there had been a lot of shouting before Carlisle and Esme calmed Mrs Weasley down.

"We were just about to leave, actually," Esme told us, "Once Fred and George get back…"

She was cut off by the doors to the ward swinging open with a loud crash, and two Healers rolled in a man on a stretcher. The man looked as though he was in his early twenties, and was screaming in pain.

"What bit you?" shouted one of the Healers over his screams, but he didn't seem able to answer.

"Fire!" he shrieked, thrashing about and clawing at his neck.

Carlisle and Edward exchanged a horrified glance and darted to the man's side.

"Let me see!" ordered Carlisle, pushing one of the Healers gently aside.

"He won't answer us," the Healer said, "He said he was bitten, but then he just started screaming about a fire."

Carlisle leaned over the man and I saw a bleeding, crescent shaped bit mark on his neck. "Get a bandage on that," he instructed the Healers, and they obeyed without question.

"Do you know what bit him?" asked the first Healer desperately, sweat on her forehead as she tried to hold down the man's thrashing limbs.

"Vampire," replied Carlisle, "I've seen this before."

Harry, Ron and Hermione gasped.

"You need to get him out of here," said Edward urgently, "In approximately three days time, he will wake up, and he'll be thirsty. He will be a danger to all your patients."

"What do you suggest we do with him, then?" demanded the second Healer, finishing with the bandage, "Shall we put him in a private ward?"

Carlisle shook his head, "That won't be enough. We'll take care of him. We have certain experience in this area."

The man shrieked again and the Healers gave up. "Take him then." They darted out of the ward, looking completely exhausted.

Emmett and Jasper went over to restrain the man from twitching about, holding down his arms and legs.

"How do we get him out of here?" asked Rosalie.

"Jasper, can you calm him enough to stop his screaming?" asked Edward.

"I can try," Jasper replied doubtfully.

"I'll take the others home," I said, motioning for the Weasleys plus Harry and Hermione to follow me. Alice also followed.

"What do we do with a newborn vampire?" I asked, hurrying everyone down the corridor, "We can't take care of him if we're going to be at Hogwarts."

Alice shook her head. "We can look after him at least until he wakes up. After that, if he chooses to join us, we can decide what to do."

The humans were looking frightened. "What's going on?" asked Ginny, her voice shaky.

"That man back there has been bitten by a vampire," explained Alice, "He's changing."

"Isn't there anything you can do?" demanded Harry.

Alice and I shook our heads as we rushed down the last set of stairs and back into the reception room. "The only thing to stop it is to kill him, and we aren't murderers. Either his heart will fail, or he will finish the transformation in a couple of days."

"A couple of days?" repeated Hermione, "But he looked like he was in such awful pain."

"Oh, he was," I told her darkly, "The change is the worst agony any vampire will ever go through. It's a hundred times worse than the Cruciatus Curse. It takes approximately three days, sometimes more, rarely less, and the whole time that man will be begging us to kill him."

Hermione went pale, and the others stared at me in shock.

"Where'd Alice go?" asked Ron finally.

"She's obtaining us a car," I replied, "The others will take her Lamborghini."

"And what do we do with that guy when we get back?" asked Ginny, "Vampires are dangerous."

"Newborns especially," I agreed, "We haven't figured that out yet. He may want to go his own way, although I find that rather unlikely. We obviously can't take care of him, as that will put you guys in danger. But there are others who might take him into their coven. Perhaps Tanya…" I mused to myself.

A dark red car pulled up in front of us then, and Alice rolled down the passenger window. "Get in."

We piled into the car after Mrs Weasley put an extension charm on it, and as soon as the last door was shut, we were speeding off.

"Who do you think did that to him?" I wondered aloud from the front passenger seat.

"That is a good question," replied Alice, "If they were feeding on him, how did they stop, and if they were intending to change him, where are they now?"

"We were just asking Bella what we're going to do with him," said Hermione from the back seat, "What do you think?"

"Hmm," said Alice, "Well, he is our responsibility now. If he wishes to follow our lifestyle…"

"Wait wait wait," interrupted Fred.

"What do you mean _our _lifestyle?" demanded George.

I gritted my teeth together. "Way to go, Alice," I told her sarcastically.

"They were bound to find out sooner or later," she countered, "trust me."

"You mean _you guys…"_ whispered Ginny, turning an odd shade of green.

"Yep," I replied grimly, shooting a disapproving glare at my sister, "But your mother can tell you we're not a threat to humans."

"It's true," said Harry.

"Anyhoo, as I was saying," continued Alice, "If the newborn wishes to follow vegetarianism, I don't know what we'll do with him."

"Maybe the Denalis will take him?" I suggested. Surely our cousins of sorts would be willing to teach him our lifestyle and the rules, at least until we had finished our time at Hogwarts.

"Perhaps," agreed Alice, "We'll get Carlisle to give Tanya a call."

"But if you guys are…vampires, what are you doing at Hogwarts?" asked Ginny nervously.

"Protecting it, of course," replied Alice, "Professor Dumbledore asked us."

"We aren't the bad guys," I told her and the twins quietly.

"And what are you going to do if the new vampire doesn't want to be a…_vegetarian?"_ asked Harry.

Alice shrugged. "We'll let him go, obviously. We won't force our lifestyle upon him."

"What, you'll just let him go off and kill people?" demanded Ron indignantly.

I met his eye seriously. "Our family is of a rare kind. We know of only one other that sustains themselves on animal blood. It is…difficult to gain the self-control needed. Everyone else lives by a more traditional, _natural_ diet. This newborn will have his free-will. We won't _make_ him reform."

"I still don't think you should let him kill people," grumbled Ron.

I smiled kindly at him. "You're human; I wouldn't expect you to understand."

Alice pulled up outside Grimmauld Place just then, and we saw the Lamborghini already parked at the side of the road. When we entered the house, the man's screaming reached our ears. We made our way to the kitchen, where everyone save Carlisle was gathered around the table.

"Poor man," I murmured sympathetically, taking a seat beside Rosalie.

"He doesn't deserve this," agreed Esme, "And on Christmas, too!"

Edward looked up at Alice sharply when the Weasleys sat down with us. "You told them?"

"They deserve to know, Edward!"

"We may as well shout it out to the entire city," sniffed Rose, "You're already telling every single human you take a liking to. We've got enough to start a club! Maybe we should hand out membership cards."

Jacob snickered until her glare cut him off, and Emmett threw an arm casually around her shoulders. "Come on, babe, you know that's not fair.

"Where's Carlisle?" I intervened before Rose could snap a response.

"He's upstairs, explaining to the newbie what's happening to him," answered Emmett, "Or trying to, anyway. I doubt he's listening much."

I shuddered as another scream echoed down to the basement. "Can you hear him?" I asked Edward.

He nodded, knowing I wasn't talking about the physical noise. "His name's Peter Stokes. He is twenty-one and takes photographs for the Daily Prophet."

"So he _is_ a wizard, then," said Jasper, "I wonder how that will turn out."

"I'm sure it's happened before," stated Alice, "I mean, wizards aren't exactly oblivious to us, are they?"

He nodded thoughtfully. "True."

Carlisle appeared at the door then, leaning against the doorframe with a sigh.

"How is he?" asked Esme at once.

"It's going to be a very long three days," he sighed.

The vampires in my family all nodded. We all knew exactly how Peter Stokes felt.

Almost three days had passed.

Carlisle had taken his phone (which didn't work around magic) outside to phone Tanya, and had explained the situation to her. She agreed to come to England via Floo Powder to offer Peter a place with her coven, if he was willing. Edward was to Floo to Alaska the next day and bring her back, something which I wasn't entirely comfortable with. I knew Tanya had a soft spot for my husband, and I didn't particularly like the idea of them being in the same place without me. Of course I trusted them both with my life, but I couldn't quite shake the feeling of jealousy.

I was ashamed to confide my emotions to Edward, but he could tell something was up, and convinced me to tell him.

"Ah, Bella," he chuckled when I revealed my embarrassing concerns. He shook his head, laughing, and kissed me.

Alice darted into the room just then. "He's waking up!" she told us, and rushed off to find the others.

We made the humans, plus Renesmee and Jacob, stay downstairs in the basement, as far away from the newborn as was possible. Esme and Rosalie guarded them by the kitchen door, just in case.

Alice, Carlisle and I stood behind Edward, Jasper and Emmett while Peter was in the final stage of the transformation, although we were ready to defend ourselves if he attacked.

The man's heart took off, beating far too fast. Peter shrieked and screamed, writhing around on the bed we had left him on, and then was still.

I had never witnessed a newborn vampire changing, since my own transformation, over a decade ago, and I wasn't entirely sure what to expect. Peter's crimson eyes flickered open, and his pupils darted around wildly. He took a deep breath, and leaped up off the bed when he sensed us in the room. He crouched down low and a growl built up deep in his chest.

Edward, Emmett and Jasper tensed in response, but made no move to approach him. Carlisle stepped in front of them calmly.

"Peter," he said, "My name is Carlisle Cullen. How do you feel?"

Peter straightened up and his hand flew to his throat. "It burns," he said, and Carlisle nodded.

"Peter, do you remember anything that I told you before?"

Peter nodded slowly. "You said that I was bitten by a vampire; that I was changing…" His eyes widened in shock. "I'm a…a vampire?" he breathed.

Carlisle nodded. "I'm afraid so. The ache in the back of your throat? That's the thirst. You need to hunt."

Peter looked horrified. "I don't want to hurt anyone," he said quietly.

Carlisle smiled in approval. "You don't have to," he explained, "Some of us," he gestured to the rest of us behind him, "have learned to survive without killing humans. We live on the blood of animals. If it is your wish, you may do so too."

"You mean I can stay with you?" Peter asked slowly.

"I'm afraid we have business that makes it impossible for you to join us," said Carlisle apologetically, "However, there are others – friends of ours – who will be happy to take you in."

Peter looked thoughtful, and then his expression changed and he crouched down again. "Wait! Who did this to me?" he demanded in a snarl, "Who bit me?"

Edward pulled Carlisle back behind him, to stand with me and Alice, and Peter launched himself forward. He snapped at Carlisle's face, but Emmett and Jasper grabbed hold of him and held him back. Alice and I tensed also, leaning forward and growling warningly.

"Calm yourself, Peter!" ordered Edward, "None of our family is responsible for changing you! We don't know who did this!'

Peter relaxed slowly. "None of you did this to me?" he asked, looking at Edward through narrowed red eyes.

"We give you our word," said Edward solemnly, "It does you no good to attack us."

"Sorry," he mumbled.

"Don't apologise," said Carlisle, "Your reaction was perfectly understandable. However, I'm sure your thirst must be extremely uncomfortable. Shall Jasper and Emmett take you hunting?" He pointed to my two brothers to show who they were.

Peter nodded. "Please."

They led him downstairs to the back door, holding onto his shoulders firmly in case he caught the humans' scents. We watched the three of them head towards the forest, and then returned to the kitchen.

"What happened?" asked Harry immediately, "Is everything okay?"

"Everything's fine," replied Edward, "He lost his temper at one stage, but Jasper managed to calm him before he could hurt anyone. He and Emmett are taking him hunting now."

"Hunting what?" asked Esme uncertainly.

"Animals," Carlisle told her, sounding pleased, "He doesn't want to kill people."

Esme beamed. "That's wonderful!"

"Edward!" said Alice suddenly, "You should be getting to Tanya's! You told her you'd be there at 3."

Edward glanced at the clock and nodded. He kissed me quickly but roughly - reminding me not to worry, I'm sure – and went over to the fireplace. He took a bag of Floo Powder, from which he grabbed a handful before pocketing it for the return trip, and stepped into the fire.

"Denali house!" he shouted, and then vanished.

He returned half an hour after Peter, Jasper and Emmett, with Tanya, Kate and Garrett in tow. After the hugs and kisses on cheeks, Kate looked curiously at the humans.

"So these are the wizards, huh?" she asked, smiling at them, "Pleasure to meet you. I'm Kate, and these are Garret and Tanya."

Garrett winked at them, his once scarlet eyes now a light amber colour. I was happy to see the Denalis' diet was still going well for him. There had been a bit of doubt in the start.

"Ah, Nessie!" Kate exclaimed, beaming, "It has been so long! How are you, my child?"

Garrett nudged her in the ribs. "It's only been five years. She hasn't changed too much since then, eh Katie?"

"I'm fully matured now," said Renesmee proudly, "I stopped aging a few years ago."

"So you have, child!" grinned Tanya, "I remember when you were this tall." She lowered her hand to about half a metre off the ground.

"Now," said Kate, "where is the newborn you were telling us about?"

"He is upstairs," replied Carlisle, "Away from the humans."

"It isn't a good idea for you all to go up there," advised Jasper, "You may alarm him."

"I will go, then," said Tanya, "Who will show me the way?"

Edward and I volunteered, and led her up to the spare room where Peter was waiting patiently.

"Peter?" asked Edward, tapping on the door gently, "We have someone here to see you."

Peter opened the door to let us in, and watched Tanya with cautious eyes.

"This is Tanya," said Edward, "She is happy for you to stay with her family, if you wish."

"Hello, Peter," greeted Tanya softly, "Would you like to join my family? There are four others; Carmen, Eleazar, Kate, and Garrett. They would all welcome you into our home, and will be happy to teach you our ways." She held out her hand, offering.

"I would like that very much," replied Peter, taking her hand hesitantly. She caught her breath at the contact. He met her eyes and smiled shyly, and I watched as Tanya beamed back.

The Denalis didn't stay for long afterwards, and we bid them cheerful farewells before they stepped into the fireplace and left.

"That's a shame," commented Alice after they'd gone, "I liked him. He would've been a nice addition to our family. Maybe he could join us after all this Hogwarts stuff is over."

"I don't think that will happen," said Edward, a strange tone to his voice. I looked up and saw a stunned smile on his face.

"What do you mean?" asked Emmett, frowning.

Edward shook his head with a grin. "From the tone of his thoughts, Peter liked Tanya very much, and vice versa."

Esme gasped. "You mean..?"

Edward grinned. "It's too soon to tell, but I think Tanya may have found a potential mate."

"No way!" exclaimed Rosalie, looking as shocked as I felt.

"That's brilliant!" cried Alice.

"I'm very happy for her," said Carlisle, "She has been alone for a few centuries now. It's about time she found someone."

"Centuries?" repeated Hermione, "That's a long time to be alone."

"One century is enough," agreed Edward, wrapping his arms around my waist. "Believe me, I know."


	17. 20 Mysteries

_Disclaimer:__ I don't own Harry Potter or Twilight. _

_List of POVs:_

_Bella – BPOV_

_Edward – EPOV_

_Renesmee – NPOV_

_Jacob – JPOV_

_Alice – APOV_

_Jasper – JasPOV_

_Emmet – EmPOV_

_Rosalie – RPOV_

_Harry – HPOV_

_Ron – RonPOV_

_Hermione – HerPOV_

_Sorry I haven't updated lately! Hope everyone had a great Christmas! Happy New Year!!_

_15 Mysteries_

_HPOV_

_**Most of the drama over Christmas was now over, and we were reluctantly preparing for our return to Hogwarts.**_

_**In the last week of the holidays, the Cullens behaved more naturally, for them at least, as Fred, George and Ginny now knew their secret. The three were wary around them at first, but with our help, the Cullens earned their trust back.**_

_**The afternoon before school restarted, we had the chess board out, and Hermione, Ginny, Edward and Alice were watching me lose to Ron dreadfully. We had already watched Edward and Alice play together, something we all found enormously amusing, and then Alice offered to play Ron.**_

"_**But you'll cheat!" he protested, eyeing her suspiciously.**_

"_**No I won't! Promise," she said, and he eventually agreed.**_

_**He put up a good fight, but every now and then I watched Alice's eyes go blank for a fraction of a second, before flipping over his king and innocently pronouncing herself the winner.**_

"_**Harry, dear," said Mrs Weasley as one of my pawns wrestled with Ron's castle, "could you come down to the kitchen? Professor Snape would like a word with you."**_

_**I looked up, my attention caught, and stared blankly at her. "Snape?" I repeated.**_

"_**Professor **_**Snape, dear," she corrected, "Now come on, quickly, he says he can't stay long."**

"**I'm sure he can't," muttered Alice, exchanging a glare with Edward as Mrs Weasley left the room.**

"**You go," said Edward, "I'll take over from you." He gestured to the chess board.**

**I took my time walking uncertainly downstairs, a little nervous and worried about what Snape would want with me.**

**It was far too soon when I pushed open the kitchen door.**

**Snape was seated at one end of the long table, and Sirius was sitting at the other, deliberately not looking at each other. Bella was also there, to my surprise, and looked uncomfortable from the tension in the room. She looked up and smiled when I entered, shrugging and rolling her eyes slightly at the two men.**

**Snape turned to me. "Sit down, Potter."**

"**You know," said Sirius obnoxiously, still avoiding Snape's eye, "I think I'd prefer it if you didn't give orders here, Snape. It's my house, you see."**

**Snape flushed, but I sat beside Sirius anyway. Bella looked at her hands folded on the table, frowning.**

**Snape scowled, and looked at me again. "The Headmaster has sent me to tell you, Potter, that it is his wish for you to study Occlumency this term."**

"**Study what?" I asked, not recognising the word.**

"**Occlumency, Potter. The magical defense of the mind against external penetration. Mrs Cullen here has assured Professor Dumbledore that your mind is indeed being targeted, and he believes it will be useful for you to learn."**

**I looked sharply at Bella, wondering how she knew this, and she shrugged apologetically.**

"**Why do I have to study Occlu-thing?" I asked desperately, "Why can't Bella just stop it for me?"**

"**I can't be around all the time to shield you, Harry," explained Bella gently, "You need to learn to defend yourself against mental attacks. I'm not sure it will help against vampire talents like Edward's, but perhaps wizard intrusions into your mind will be prevented."**

**Snape looked uncomfortable for a second, but seemed to shrug it off. "You will be receiving private lessons once a week, but you will not tell anybody what you are doing, least of all Dolores Umbridge. You understand?"**

**I wouldn't tell her anyway. "Yes," I replied, "Who's going to be teaching me?"**

**Snape raised an eyebrow and I predicted his answer with a sinking feeling. "I am."**

**Wonderful, I thought to myself bitterly. One more thing to dread.**

**Snape got to his feet. "I will expect you at six o'clock on Monday evening, Potter. My office. If anybody asks, you are taking remedial Potions. Nobody who has seen you in my classes could deny you need them," he added with a sneer, and spun around to leave.**

"**Wait a moment," interrupted Sirius, rising from his chair, and Snape turned back to look at him.**

"**I am in rather a hurry, Black," he said, "Unlike you, I do not have unlimited leisure time."**

"**I'll get to the point then. If I hear you're using these Occlumency lessons to give Harry a hard time, you'll have me to answer to."**

"**Don't worry," said Bella, "We'll make sure he doesn't."**

"**How touching," replied Snape, "But surely you have noticed that Potter is very much like his father?"**

"**Yes, I have."**

"**Well then, you'll know he's so arrogant that criticism simply bounces off him," said Snape smugly.**

**Bella snarled, and Sirius pulled out his wand as he launched himself towards Snape. He looked truly furious, and Snape pulled out his own wand. Bella started to rise from the table, but didn't approach them when she saw neither of them had attacked.**

"**I've warned you, **_**Snivellus,"**_** hissed Sirius, "I don't care if Dumbledore thinks you've reformed, I know better…"**

"**Oh, but why don't you tell him so?" asked Snape very quietly, "Or are you afraid he might not take very seriously the advice of a man who has been hiding inside his mother's house for six months?"**

**Bella snarled again, softer this time, but Sirius shrugged away the insult. "Tell me, how is Lucius Malfoy these days? I expect he's delighted his lapdog's working at Hogwarts, isn't he?"**

"**Speaking of dogs," murmured Snape, "did you know that Lucius Malfoy recognised you last time you risked a little jaunt outside?" So they **_**had**_** recognised him. "Clever idea, Black, getting yourself seen on a safe station platform…gave you a cast-iron excuse not to leave your hidey-hole in future, didn't it?"**

**Sirius staggered back a step and raised his wand, and I was ready to jump between them, but Bella was already there, having moved too fast for any of us to notice.**

"**Enough," she hissed, holding out her hands to push both of them away.**

"**Are you calling me a coward?" Sirius roared, starting forward and taking no notice of Bella.**

"**Why yes, I suppose I am," replied Snape with a smirk.**

**They both raised their wands, but Bella took both of them by the front of their robes and lifted them up in the air. "I said enough!" she growled, and shoved them away so they landed several metres apart on the ground.**

"**Interesting friends you keep, Potter," commented Snape idly, clambering to his feet and eyeing Bella.**

**Bella hissed softly. "Leave now, Severus, before any more trouble is caused by your presence."**

**Snape gave her a look of disgust, before turning on his heel and sweeping out of the room. When he opened the door, all the Weasleys plus Hermione and the Cullens were standing on the other side, about to enter the room. Snape passed them silently, and was gone.**

**Sirius was still on the floor, glaring after him, and I reached down to help him up. "Sorry about that," he muttered, scowling.**

**Everyone else entered the kitchen then, with Mr Weasley among them, all looking very happy.**

"**Cured," he announced, beaming, "Completely cured."**

**Bella, Sirius and I smiled at the news. Bella's was the only one that looked genuine, whilst Sirius and I were still bitter from the almost-fight.**

"**How did you know Voldemort's penetrating my mind?" I asked Bella later that night.**

"**I felt it," she replied simply, "Although don't forget it may not be Voldemort who's behind this."**

**I raised my eyebrows. "Oh great," I said sarcastically, "So now I've got another enemy to worry about, and one who's getting into my head at that."**

**Bella smiled. "I know you're a teenager and are supposed to be pessimistic all the time, but would you just try looking on the bright side for once?"**

**The bright side? I thought to myself. What's over there?**

**Edward chuckled. "Well, you do have a stunning vampire to protect your mind if you fail."**

**I let myself grin. "There is that."**

**His smile turned thoughtful. "Snape must be good at Occlumency. He doesn't completely block me, but his thoughts can get blurry at times. I have to strain to hear him."**

**This surprised and worried me. If Edward couldn't hear Snape's thoughts, what might he be hiding?**

**Edward sighed. "I may not hear his thoughts very well, Harry, but I can hear yours. I wish you would stop being so suspicious of him. Even I have a certain measure of trust in him."**

**He didn't sway my opinion of Snape, however, and he let it drop.**

**We returned to Hogwarts the next morning via the Knight Bus. After I pulled on my jacket to go outside into the cold winter morning, Sirius pulled me to the side. He handed me a small rectangular package secretly, and I felt like a drug smuggler.**

"**I want you to take this," he told me in a hushed voice.**

"**What is it?" I whispered back, examining the badly-wrapped package.**

"**A way of letting me know if Snape's giving you a hard time," he explained as I went to open it, "No, don't open it in here," he said quickly, looking around shiftily, "I doubt Molly would approve…but I want you to use it if you need me, all right?"**

**I agreed in a whisper, and tucked it into the inside pocket of my jacket. Sirius clapped a hand on my shoulder, smiling. "Let's go, then."**

**He ushered me to the front door, where Mr and Mrs Weasley said their goodbyes. To my surprise, Sirius pulled me into a tight hug, before shoving me good-naturedly out the front door where Lupin and Tonks were waiting for us.**

**Alice was perched on the hood of her Lamborghini, a distraught expression on her face. She patted the roof gently before hopping down. "Goodbye, baby," she muttered, looking close to tears. She glared up at Mr Weasley. "You take good care of it for me, okay?"**

**Mr Weasley nodded and laughed before the front door shut in front of his face and Tonks led us down to the street.**

**Lupin held out his right arm, and a purple triple-decker bus appeared in front of him with a bang. We all climbed on, me doing so apprehensively. I had ridden the Knight Bus before, and I had no wish to do so again. There wasn't enough room on the bottom deck, so we had to split up.**

**Tonks led Hermione, Ron, Alice, Renesmee, Emmett and I upstairs, where we sat in assorted armchairs.**

"**Why do we need a guard?" grumbled Emmett, watching Tonks take a seat at the front. I wasn't entirely sure of the answer, so I didn't reply.**

**The bus took off with a bang, and I was thrown back into my seat with the force.**

**Alice looked delighted. "Now **_**this**_** is the way to travel!" she exclaimed, looking out the window at the streets blurring past.**

"**You aren't actually **_**enjoying**_** this, are you?" demanded Ron from the floor, having fallen off his seat and looking slightly green.**

**Alice beamed at him. "We like speed," she told him, looking perfectly at ease.**

"**I'll say," I muttered, feeling rather nauseous myself.**

**It wasn't too long a trip. Tonks had told the driver to get us there as fast as possible; therefore we didn't have to wait for too many of the other passengers to get off. The Knight Bus pulled up outside the gates to Hogwarts, and Tonks and Lupin helped us off with our luggage before wishing us goodbyes.**

**The Cullens carried our luggage for us, so it wasn't too much of a struggle up the ice-covered slope, back to the castle. They could hold several suitcases in one hand, so it was no trouble for them.**

**We parted ways in the Entrance Hall, Renesmee and Jacob going down some stairs to their common room; Rosalie and Emmett heading down to the Slytherins' dungeon common room; Alice and Jasper climbing the stairs to Ravenclaw tower; and Professor and Doctor Cullen went off to report to Dumbledore. Ron, Hermione, the twins, Ginny, Edward, Bella and I ascended the many staircases to Gryffindor tower, where Ron and I flopped into empty armchairs, tired after the travelling.**

**The next day, I had countless DA members approach me, asking for the next meeting date. I had to tell them over and over that I would let them know when I had organised something, and was beginning to get frustrated.**

**Alice started jumping up and down excitedly, and I was about to ask her to stop when she said, "Ooh, Cho's coming over!"**

**She and the other Cullens darted away to give me privacy, but I had a feeling they were still listening.**

"**We'll be in the library," smiled Hermione, dragging Ron away by the elbow.**

**I watched them go in disbelief, feeling abandoned, and was startled when Cho appeared right behind me. "Hi, Harry."**

"**Oh," I said, feigning surprise, "hi."**

**Cho smiled, and I noticed she was a bit pink in the face. "Had a good Christmas?" she asked casually.**

"**Yeah," I replied indifferently, "not bad."**

"**Mine was pretty quiet," she admitted, blushing a shade darker. "Erm…there's another Hogsmeade trip next month, did you see the notice?"**

**The turn of conversation surprised me. "What? Oh, no, I haven't checked the noticeboard since I got back."**

"**Yes, it's on Valentine's Day," she explained, and I thought she seemed hopeful for some reason, confusing me even more.**

"**Right. Well I suppose you want to…" I began, intending to ask her if she wanted to know when the next DA meeting was, but she interrupted me.**

"**Only if you do," she replied, looking eager now.**

**I frowned, wondering what on earth she was talking about. "I…er…"**

**Her eyes widened at my response, and she looked shocked. "Oh, it's okay if you don't. Don't worry. I…I'll see you around."**

**She spun and rushed away, her head down. I stared after her and wondered what had just happened.**

**Something hard hit me over the back of the head, and I turned to find Alice glaring daggers at me. "Ask her out, you idiot!" she hissed, shoving me forward.**

**Oh. **_**Oh!**_** I felt like an idiot as I ran after Cho, calling her back. "Er," I said awkwardly, "d'you want to come into Hogsmeade with me on Valentine's Day?"**

**She blushed darker than ever and beamed at me. "Yes," she replied enthusiastically.**

**I grinned back, before saying goodbye and watching her skip up the marble staircase.**

**The Cullens were already gathered around me, their expressions varying from amusement to disapproval.**

"**Are you honestly that clueless?" asked Bella, shaking her head in exasperation, "She looked heartbroken when you hesitated!"**

"**I didn't know what I was supposed to do!" I said defensively. Was I imagining it or did Bella look disappointed in me? "Er, I'd better go find Ron and Hermione."**

"**You do that," nodded Emmett in between howls of laughter.**

**I rushed off, but felt their eyes watching me all the way up the staircase.**

**EPOV**

It was evening in the Gryffindor common room, and I was lounging on the couch with Bella snuggled up to my chest. Hermione was in one of the armchairs by the fire, frantically knitting an elf-sized hat, and occasionally throwing glances to the portrait hole, waiting for Harry to return from his meeting with Snape. Ron was sitting opposite her, slumped down in his chair drowsily with his chin resting on his chest, emitting a snore every now and then. He woke with a jump and squeak when Harry stormed into the common room, excitement lighting up his otherwise pale face.

_I can't believe I didn't realise before!_ he thought.

"How did it go?" asked Hermione at once, her voice hushed. She looked closer at him and saw how white he looked. "Are you all right, Harry?"

"Yeah," he replied absently, "Listen, I've just realised something. You know those dreams I've been having the last few months, where I'm walking down the corridor? I've figured out where it is! It's the same hallway Mr Weasley took me down for my hearing! It's the Department of Mysteries, and I think that's where the weapon is! It's got to be!"

Ron and Hermione were stunned.

_Of course! It all makes sense!_ thought Hermione with a low sigh. _Everything fits!_

She and Ron began discussing the new revelation, realising just how much sense it made, while Harry rubbed his forehead distractedly.

"Harry, are you alright?" asked Bella gently, watching him in motherly concern.

"Yeah…fine," he muttered, "I just feel a bit…I don't like Occlumency much."

Just then, Fred, George and a bunch of Gryffindors entered the common room, all laughing rather loudly. Fred swept into the middle of the room, waving around a pink-feathered hat at his audience.

"Headless Hats!" announced George, "Two Galleons each! Watch now!"

Fred placed the hat on top of his head, and everyone watched in anticipation when his head and the hat both vanished from sight. After a moment, he pulled the hat off and reappeared, beaming.

_That's impressive,_ thought Hermione, _I wonder how they work._ She voiced her question, earning only a wink from Fred and George.

Harry was quiet, and I heard how uncomfortable and sick he felt.

"Go up to bed," I advised, "You might feel better after a night's sleep."

Harry nodded and headed up to the boys' dormitory, where he stayed for the rest of the night.

Bella giggled when George placed a hat on her head. Even with the ridiculous pink feather sticking up, she was still the most beautiful thing I had ever seen, and then she vanished. I frowned.

"What's the matter?" asked Bella's voice.

I groped around in the air for the top of the hat, and pulled it off her, throwing it to the side. Her face became visible at once, and she was looking at me worriedly.

"I'd rather you didn't," I explained, "Your face is far too beautiful to hide."

Everyone wolf-whistled and howled with laughter as I kissed her eagerly, but I barely noticed. It was only when I heard a loud thump coming from upstairs that I broke away. Bella looked at the ceiling anxiously.

"Was that Harry?" she whispered, and I listened for his thoughts. I didn't find them, and pulled Bella up and towards the staircase. We raced up the stairs and through the door, where we found Harry twitching on the floor, laughing wildly.

His thoughts were incoherent; all I could tell was that he wasn't thinking for himself, and something very good had happened. I knelt beside him and shook his shoulder to snap him out of it.

"Harry!" shouted Bella, ready to shield him, when he came to his senses of his own accord. He was still laughing, but when he realised this, he broke off, panting and looking scared.

"What happened?" I asked urgently, and stopped him when he went to sit up. "No, stay down."

"I…dunno," he replied shakily. "He's really happy…really happy…"

"Voldemort?" asked Bella, glancing at me frantically.

"Something good's happened," he explained, shivering violently, "Something he's been hoping for."

Bella helped him sit up slowly, throwing me anxious looks. "You're freezing," she noted, "Let's get you into bed."

Harry was too weak to protest as she picked him up carefully and carried him to his bed. He slumped back as soon as she put him down, and pulled his blanket around himself, still shaking.

"You need to sleep," she told him.

The idea of more dreams frightened him, and he started to protest, but I stopped him. "Clear your mind, like Professor Snape told you. We'll stay with you."

He wasn't very good at letting his mind go blank, I have to admit, but it was understandable after what he had just experienced. When he finally dropped off to sleep, Bella and I whispered to each other very quietly.

"This isn't good," she murmured, watching the boy sleep.

"No," I agreed, "The connection between their minds seems to be getting stronger." She looked alarmed. "What's the matter?"

"What if the connection gets so strong that I can't block him out any longer?" Bella breathed, sounding a little scared, "What will we do then?"

I couldn't say. "I don't know," I admitted, holding her closer to me. "Right now I'm worried about why Voldemort was so happy. What could possibly have happened?"

"Would Alice have seen if it was really bad?"

"Possibly. But she hasn't come to find us, so whatever it is probably can't be helped right now."

And I didn't know if this worried me even more than anything else.


	18. 21 Valentines Day

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or Twilight.

List of POVs:

Bella – BPOV

Edward – EPOV

Renesmee – NPOV

Jacob – JPOV

Alice – APOV

Jasper – JasPOV

Emmet – EmPOV

Rosalie – RPOV

Harry – HPOV

Ron – RonPOV

Hermione – HerPOV

Please keep reviewing! Enjoy!

21. Valentine's Day

BPOV

**The next morning at breakfast, our attention was caught by Hermione's shocked gasp at the headline of the Daily Prophet. Edward and I leaned over her shoulder to read the large bold text: MASS BREAKOUT FROM AZKABAN, MINISTRY FEARS BLACK IS 'RALLYING POINT' FOR OLD DEATH EATERS. **Beneath the headline were ten individual photographs of the convicts, all labelled with their names and crimes.

It took us about ten seconds to read the entire article, both of us scowling, before we looked at each other.

"This is not good," I said, and Edward looked just as worried as I felt.

"At least now we know why he was so happy last night," he muttered.

We let Harry, Ron and Hermione finish reading the newspaper, and listened to their panicked conversations without contributing. Hermione suddenly jumped up from the table, muttering something about sending a letter, and fled the hall.

"Do you mind if we borrow this?" asked Edward, reaching out his hand for the paper. Harry nodded mutely and handed it over. "Come on, Bella."

We took the Daily Prophet up to the staff table, where most of the teachers were murmuring urgently amongst themselves. Edward put the paper on the table in front of Carlisle and Esme, and stabbed his finger at the headline.

"Have you seen this?" he asked, and Carlisle nodded grimly.

"Albus has been expecting something like this to happen for some time now," he told us.

"What can we do?" I asked, staring at the photographs intently, memorising the Death Eaters' faces.

"We do nothing, I'm afraid, Bella," said Carlisle, "Our job is to protect the school."

"But with these ten escaped, every human in London would be in danger," I protested.

"Bella," began Esme gently, "I know how horrible it is, but they would most likely be targeting Hogwarts students, trying to get to Harry. He needs your protection now more than ever, sweetheart."

"It makes sense to stay here," agreed Edward, touching my shoulder lightly.

I wanted to argue, but I couldn't deny the logic in their reasoning. "I know," I sighed, "I just don't like that we have to sit around while the Death Eaters are out there hurting and killing people."

"What do the others think?" Carlisle asked Edward.

"I'm not sure," he replied, "They know something's up, but they haven't seen the paper yet."

"We should go show them," I suggested, picking up the newspaper.

Edward nodded, and we walked at a brisk human pace over to the Ravenclaw table to show Alice and Jasper.

Alice frowned as she read the story. "How could I not have seen this?" she asked herself, shaking her head.

"It's not your fault," said Jasper, quick to reassure her. "We don't expect you to see everything."

"What's going on?" asked Rosalie, she and Emmett having wandered over to see what was happening. We showed her the headlines, and she hissed under her breath. "How could this happen?"

I was a little surprised by her anger, until I saw she was staring at a picture labelled, _Henrietta Goldberg, convicted for the murder of the five Jones children, aged 18mths to 10yrs._ Of course this would upset Rose. I could barely hold back my vicious snarl myself.

"Mum?" asked Renesmee, joining us with Jacob in tow, "What's wrong?"

I shook my head. "Just something in the news, sweetheart."

Edward handed her the paper for her and Jacob to read, and she looked worried.

"It's okay, Renesmee," said Edward, "No one's going to hurt you or any of us."

She looked up at him, with wide eyes. "You promise?" she asked, for a moment sounding like a little kid again.

I watched Edward, looking for any hint of hesitation, but there was none I could see when he said, "I promise."

***

The rest of the month gradually became worse and worse.

We found out that Hagrid was on probation, something that only we seemed upset about. Professor Umbridge lurked at the side of his lessons, making him nervous and flustered. We tried to help as much as we could, but Umbridge had pretty much already made up her mind on the matter. It didn't help that Alice couldn't see Hagrid in her visions, so we couldn't prepare for whatever was to come.

After the Azkaban breakout, Umbridge also passed another Educational Decree, stating that no teachers were to give students any information that didn't have relevance to their subject topic. Harry, Ron and Hermione were disgruntled about this at first, until Edward grinned and tapped his chin thoughtfully.

"Well, it's a good thing we aren't technically students, isn't it?" he asked rhetorically.

The worst thing happened one Monday afternoon, when we were waiting outside our Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom. I was voicing my concerns that I was beginning to have more and more trouble shielding Harry from his dreams each night, and it was making me anxious. Without thinking, Edward wrapped his arms around me and kissed the top of my head just as Umbridge rounded the corner. She stopped as soon as she saw us, and a smug smile appeared on her toad-like face.

"Masen! Swan! What do you think you're doing?" she demanded victoriously, "As you well know, any form of physical affection is against the rules!"

We sprang apart at once, quickly yet reluctantly, and looked at her sheepishly.

"That is a month of detentions," she told us, "Starting tonight, five o'clock, my office."

She strolled past us and into the classroom, and the class followed her. Emmett snickered at us, and we glared at him.

"Shut up, Emmett!" I hissed.

We took our usual seats, and I immediately pulled out a piece of parchment.

_What do we do? _I wrote. _If she makes us use that quill, she's sure to notice we don't bleed!_

Edward shook his head, and wrote his own message.

_I'll talk to Carlisle. We'll figure something out._

I took the parchment back.

_I really hope so._

We went to speak with Carlisle just before dinner, and he promised he would talk to Professor Dumbledore right away, so when we apprehensively knocked on her office door at exactly five o'clock, she let us in with a scowl.

"Is something the matter, Professor?" Edward asked innocently.

"No, no, nothing at all," she replied in that horrible falsely sweet voice of hers, "Come in and take a seat."

We obliged, and she set a large box of files in front of us. "I want you to sort through these. The Minister gave them to me to go through, but I simply do not have the time. You are to copy them out on a separate sheet of parchment, and then put them in alphabetical order, based on topic. You understand?"

I smiled up at her sweetly. "Of course."

It was frustrating work, writing out the files at an impossibly slow human pace, sighing and glancing at the clock every now and then to keep up appearances.

After a couple of hours, she stopped us. "I want you two back here tomorrow night, same time. You will continue working then."

We nodded and quietly said goodnight, before being dismissed. We immediately headed for the Room of Requirement, where we knew we would manage to spend the night alone, uninterrupted and unpunished.

***

February the fourteenth arrived, and the whole family was eager to get out of the castle and away from Professor Umbridge's watchful eye for Valentine's Day. We dressed in casual, but nice clothes for our trip into Hogsmeade, and went down to breakfast as usual with our human friends.

Hermione's meal was interrupted by an owl carrying a letter which she pulled from its beak eagerly and read it with a grim smile.

"Listen, Harry," she said urgently, looking up at her friend, "this is really important. Do you think you could meet me in the Three Broomsticks around midday?"

Harry looked surprised, and curious. "Well…I dunno," he replied slowly, "Cho might be expecting me to spend the whole day with her. We never said what we were going to do."

"Well, bring her along, if you must! But will you come?"

"Well…all right, but why?"

Hermione didn't answer him, rushing off instead to answer her letter. Harry looked at the rest of us.

"Are you coming?" he asked Ron, who shook his head glumly, muttering about Quidditch practice. "What about you two?" he directed at us.

We nodded enthusiastically. "We have a date set up," said Edward, beaming down at me.

We walked out to the Entrance hall with Harry, where he spotted Cho waiting for him. She was wearing a subtle amount of make-up, and was dressed in designer clothes, looking slightly awkward. I imagined that a certain pixie-like vampire had caught up with her. Harry's heartbeat sped up when he saw her, and his breath caught.

"Alice," I sighed in explanation, shaking my head, "We'll leave you guys to it. Bye, Harry."

We wished him luck on his date, before parting ways. Edward and I went to be signed out by Mr Filch, eager to get out of the castle. The second we passed through the front gates, Edward took my hand and squeezed it tightly. I grinned and squeezed his hand back.

"You look particularly lovely today, my Bella," he told me casually, as though commenting on the weather.

"Thankyou. You don't look too bad yourself," I replied, swinging our linked hands back and forth as we made our way down the dirt road to the village. We stopped at the edge of the crowded street. "Where shall we go?" I asked.

Edward looked around as though for inspiration. "How about we just walk?" he suggested, leading me forward through the crowd of Hogwarts students. We walked slowly, until the crowd started thinning out, and Edward looked down at me with a smile.

"I miss this," he told me, lifting my hand up to kiss it, "It feels nice to be able to touch you whenever I want again."

"Mm," I murmured in agreement, "Are we heading anywhere in particular?"

"Not really," he admitted, "Unless you can think of something you'd like to go?"

I smiled and shook my head. "Walking's fine with me."

A few minutes later, the rain that had been falling on us turned to snow. I caught a flake in my hand where it sat without melting. It reminded me of the first time I saw it snow in Forks, and I sighed from sudden homesickness.

"What are you thinking about?" asked Edward typically.

"Home," I replied honestly, "I miss Forks. All my happiest memories are there."

He grinned and swept a lock of hair out of my face. "I know what you mean." He took my other hand with a thoughtful expression on his face and pulled me closer to his chest. I watched him curiously, wondering what he was doing, until he twirled me around, and I realised we were dancing.

I giggled. "Really, in the snow?" I asked, although I had to admit there was something rather romantic about it.

Edward grinned and spun both of us around, keeping a firm hold on my waist. "Does that bother you?" he murmured in my ear, and it felt like one of those times where if I could've blushed, I would've.

"No," I answered, smiling, "I'm just wondering where all this came from."

He looked affronted. "Do I need an excuse to dance with my beautiful wife?"

I felt my smile widen. "Never."

We continued dancing for about five minutes, until the snow started getting heavy. It didn't bother us at all, but we didn't look human the way we were going, so we looked for shelter in the doorway of a small coffee shop.

"Should we go inside?" I asked.

Edward grimaced. "If we do, we would probably be expected to order something. Drinking dirt is not my idea of a romantic Valentine's Day."

I wrinkled my nose up, imagining the taste of coffee to us, and agreed we should stay just outside. We sat down against the wall, still sheltered from the weather. Edward put his arm around my shoulders, and I leaned into him. To anyone passing by we probably looked like we were huddled up against the cold, and I was content with that alibi. I leaned my head against his chest and in response he held me tighter.

We sat like this for a while, until the door to the coffee shop swung open and Cho Chang stormed out, tears dripping from her face. I jumped to my feet and tried calling after her, all the while wondering what on earth had happened, but she ignored me and rushed out into the snow. Barely a second later, the door opened a second time, and Harry exited the shop, watching after her with a stunned expression on his face. He didn't even seem to notice me and Edward standing there.

"Harry?" asked Edward.

Harry blinked slowly and focused on us. "Hey," he mumbled, sounding confused.

"What just happened?" I demanded, "What did you do to her?"

He frowned and shook his head. "I have no idea," he confessed, "She just got really upset and stormed out."

I sighed in exasperation. "Well, what did you say?"

"First I told her that Hermione asked me to meet her at lunch," he began, and I shook my head disapprovingly.

"Oh, Harry, you didn't!" I groaned.

He looked at me defensively. "What?"

"You don't tell someone you're going to meet another woman in the middle of your date!" I explained, "What's that supposed to make her think?"

He stared at me with his mouth hanging open. "Yeah, I just figured that out for myself. But what was I supposed to tell her? I promised Hermione I'd meet her; she sounded really urgent!"

I rolled my eyes. "Boys!" I growled quietly so he couldn't hear me. "Okay, so what happened next?"

"Um, she started talking about Cedric," he said, "Then I told her I didn't really want to talk about that, obviously, and she turned on the waterworks. I mean, what was that about?"

"You brought up another girl first; she was obviously trying to make you jealous!"

Harry stared at me in disbelief. "Well it worked, but still, you didn't see me running out of there crying my eyes out!"

Edward chuckled to himself softly. "She's a female teenager. She isn't meant to be uncomplicated! Her emotions are all over the place at the moment!"

"Clearly," Harry grumbled to himself.

I rolled my eyes again. "You'd better go. Don't want to be late for your lunch date with Hermione," I teased, and he glared at me.

"Thanks a lot," he muttered, and left.

I scowled at Edward in frustration. "Really!" I growled, "Why are all boys hopeless at first dates?"

Edward raised an eyebrow. "I resent that."

My frustration vanished (mostly) and I cracked a smile. "Oh yeah? On our first date I seem to recall you demonstrating all the ways you could kill me."

He flinched, but quickly composed himself enough to chuckle quietly. "Touché."

I laughed, and he put his arms around me, embracing me tightly. "Have I mentioned just how beautiful you look today?"

I smiled into his shoulder. "Maybe once or twice, but it's still nice to hear."

He lifted my face up with a finger under my chin, and kissed me deeply. I sighed happily, and relaxed into his embrace, the last remnants of my anger disappearing as I breathed in his scent. He moved away from my lips, only to trail small kisses along my jaw and down my neck hungrily. He stopped at my collarbone and buried his nose into my shoulder, inhaling deeply.

"Happy Valentine's Day, my beauty," he whispered, "I love you, forever."

I smiled. "I love you, too," I replied, "Happy Valentine's Day."


	19. 22 Boggarts and Patronuses

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or Twilight.

List of POVs:

Bella – BPOV

Edward – EPOV

Renesmee – NPOV

Jacob – JPOV

Alice – APOV

Jasper – JasPOV

Emmet – EmPOV

Rosalie – RPOV

Harry – HPOV

Ron – RonPOV

Hermione – HerPOV

Thanks for all the amazing reviews! Hope you enjoy this chapter!!

22. Boggarts and Patronuses

BPOV

**Professor Trelawney had been sacked. Professor Umbridge got rid of her in front of the whole school, but our sympathy was limited. We were all too worried that Hagrid would be next.**

**Harry continued having visions of Voldemort, and I could no longer block them at all, much to my anxiety. Apparently, Severus Snape had also noticed during Harry's Occlumency lessons, and was giving him a hard time over them.**

**We found out why Hermione had been so urgent about meeting Harry in Hogsmeade on Valentine's Day. A few days later, Harry received a copy of the Quibbler magazine in which he had given an interview, and dozens of fan and hate mail. Professor Umbridge was none too pleased about this, and it didn't take long for her to ban the magazine from the school.**

**I was overjoyed when Seamus Finnigan apologised to Harry about his behaviour towards him and they made up. Harry needed as many friends as he could get right then. Seamus even attended the next few DA meetings, which were getting challenging, even for us vampires.**

**Someone had caught a rogue Boggart and we spent a lesson practicing fighting them. Boggarts, we found out, took the form of the thing that scared its victim the most, and I was worried when it was my turn to face it. Everyone watched as I took a deep breath and stepped in front of it, raising my wand. I could tell they were curious as to what it would become for me.**

**CRACK!**

**The Boggart looked at me with Edward's sorrowful eyes. My hand trembled and I lowered my wand, losing all intention of attacking. Then the Edward-Boggart spoke.**

"**I'm leaving, Bella," it whispered, and I froze. "I don't want you. I never loved you and I never will." The words I had heard over a decade ago stunned me, and I slowly raised my wand again.**

"**R-riddikulus!" I stuttered, shaking.**

**CRACK!**

**The Boggart changed form, and I wailed in despair at the two dead bodies on the floor. Edward and Renesmee looked so human lying there, eyes blank and perfectly still. I knew it wasn't real; that it couldn't possibly happen, but the sight still chilled me. Even though I didn't need to breathe, I found myself hyperventilating. I clutched my wand tightly in my hand, and felt it start to splinter under my grip. I unclenched my fist and it clattered to the floor, but I barely noticed. The thought of picking it back up was lost on me. What was the spell again? Did it even matter? I couldn't think of anything but my husband and daughter lying lifelessly before me.**

**Someone stepped in front of me, and Edward's dead body was replaced with my own.**

"**Ridikulus!" said the person quietly, and the Boggart disappeared.**

**I blinked slowly and looked down at my empty hand, wondering where my wand was. I was vaguely aware of everyone still watching me.**

"**Bella," whispered Edward, holding my shoulders firmly.**

**I looked up at him, feeling dazed, and whimpered when I met his eyes. He put his arms around me and I collapsed into his embrace, sobbing tearlessly.**

"**Shh, Bella," soothed Edward, holding me so tightly it was almost painful, "Shh, love. It wasn't real. I'm right here. It wasn't real."**

**I couldn't stop crying into his chest, convulsing with dry sobs and trembling violently. Everyone was still watching us, whispering now, and Edward realised this at the same time as me. "Come on," he breathed, pulling me through the crowd and out into the corridor.**

"**R-Renesmee," I choked, struggling to get back into the Room of Requirement, and realising Edward was carrying me.**

"**She's fine, love," he assured me, "She's okay."**

**I met his smouldering eyes and started crying again. "It was so real!" I sobbed, "You were there! You were dead!" my voice broke on the last word.**

"**I know," he murmured, looking pained, "I saw it too. I saw you."**

**He was still carrying me, and I clutched his shirt, burying my head in his shoulder. He took me to the hospital wing. By then I couldn't cry any more, and instead stared ahead in silence.**

"**Bella?" asked Carlisle urgently, looking up and seeing me in Edward's arms. "Edward, what's wrong with her?"**

"**I think she's in shock," replied Edward quietly, "She was frightened badly." He quickly explained what had happened. "Is there anything you can do for her?"**

**Carlisle shook his head solemnly. "Human remedies don't work on us. Normally I would suggest she slept, but obviously that isn't possible for her. Bella?" he said to me gently, "How do you feel?"**

"**I'm f-fine," I replied weakly, convincing nobody. I saw Carlisle almost smile. "Really, I'm okay," I said, clearer, "I just need a minute or two."**

"**Are you sure, love?" Edward murmured in my ear, and I nodded, forcing a smile.**

"**I just…freaked out. I'll be okay in a second." I drew a deep, shaky breath and tried my best to calm down. I took several more, and felt myself start to relax. Edward held me the entire time, rubbing my back and pressing his lips to my forehead every now and then. "Thanks," I breathed, "I'm okay now. Can we go back?"**

**Edward frowned in disapproval. "I don't think so, Bella. I don't want you to get hurt again."**

**I sighed. "Everyone's probably still talking about me anyway."**

**Edward didn't even try to disagree. "It was a bit unusual for them," he nodded, "Most of them had their Boggarts turn into spiders or monsters."**

**I smiled a little. "Well they all know I'm a bit crazy."**

"**Don't say that, Bella," Edward growled, but then he grinned, "You're a little more than a **_**bit."**_

**I slapped at his chest playfully, and my despair was completely over.**

*******

"**Are you sure you want to go?" asked Edward for the ninth time.**

"_**Yes,"**_** I told him again, rolling my eyes.**

**Ever since my bad experience with the Boggart last week, Edward kept suggesting that we skip the next few DA meetings. I thought he would've stopped by the time we got to the Room of Requirement, but clearly he was still foolishly overprotective.**

**Before he could ask again, I pushed the door open and entered, leaving him no choice but to follow me.**

**Harry assured us that we had finished our work with the Boggarts, and Edward seemed to finally start relaxing. We waited for the rest of the group to show up, before Harry assigned us our new task: Patronuses.**

"**It has to be the happiest memory you've got," he told everyone, "Otherwise, the misery takes over and the Dementor has you."**

**He raised his wand and shouted, **_**"Expecto Patronum!"**_** to demonstrate. A silvery stag burst from the tip of his wand and galloped once around the room before fading into smoke. He earned a round of applause, and then told us to start practising.**

**I concentrated on my happiest memories: the first time I saw Edward; the first time he told me he loved me; the moment we both said "I do"; our first night together on Isle Esme; meeting Renesmee for the first time; my first hunt as a vampire and the night that followed; the moment the Volturi left us in peace and we realised we'd all survived; I concentrated on all of it and raised my wand.**

"_**Expecto Patronum!"**_** I shouted. My wand emitted a small wisp of silvery smoke, but nothing more. I frowned and tried again.**

"**Here," said Edward, taking my hand, "This might help." He looked deeply into my eyes and held my hand tightly. "Now try."**

**Again, I concentrated on my memories and Edward's face before me and tried again.**

"_**Expecto Patronum!"**_

**This time, my Patronus had a distinct shape. It stood on the ground and looked up at me.**

"**It's a lamb!" I said, surprised.**

**Edward beamed and conjured his own Patronus.**

"**The lion and the lamb," he murmured, squeezing my hand.**

**We watched the lion walk up to the lamb and lick the top of its head affectionately.**

"**Well done, guys!" exclaimed Harry, coming over to us.**

"**Why are our Patronuses these creatures?" I asked.**

"**Usually they reflect the person who conjures them," he replied, "My dad was an animagus, so mine is a stag, like he was."**

**I thought through my dim human memories. "And so the lion fell in love with the lamb!" I remembered. How could I ever forget? It was the first time Edward insinuated that he loved me.**

"**And the lion still loved the lamb when she was a lioness," said Edward now, smiling at me.**

**We were interrupted by Alice's squeal of delight. We looked over to her and saw a swan circling her gracefully. Beside her, Jasper was watching a hawk flying over his head.**

**The others in our family were all staring at their own partners, and in doing this successfully conjured their Patronuses.**

**Jacob and Renesmee both had wolves that prowled around them. Emmett's was a large bear that stood up on two feet and tried swiping at a bit of dust in the air. Rosalie's was a peacock, strutting around proudly.**

"**That's brilliant, you six!" Harry called to them, beaming with what I could only imagine was pride, "Great job!"**

"**Thanks, man," replied Jacob. He didn't take his eyes off Renesmee, who was stroking the head of her Patronus.**

"**They're really beautiful!" she exclaimed.**

**Hermione wandered over, followed by a silvery otter. "They **_**are**_** sort of nice, aren't they?" she agreed.**

"**That's not the point of them," said Harry, although he was smiling a little, "They're supposed to protect you. And don't forget they would be harder to conjure in front of a real Dementor."**

"**Oh, don't be such a killjoy," said Cho brightly, watching her own Patronus and smiling.**

**I nudged Harry gently in the side. "Have you two made up?" I whispered.**

**He shrugged. "I dunno. Sort of, maybe."**

**That was when Alice stiffened, looking horrified. "What on earth is that woman doing?" she hissed.**

**The family circled her, looking anxious, and I noticed my Patronus fade away.**

"**Alice? What's happened?" I asked.**

"**Not here," she replied, and began pulling us out of the room.**

**As the eight of us left, I heard Harry say, "Er, that's enough for tonight. We'll meet again next week."**

**We ducked into an empty classroom and Alice shut the door very deliberately behind her.**

"**What did you see, Alice?" asked Jasper.**

**She shook her head. "Umbridge…she must be out of her mind!"**

"**What's she done?" I wondered nervously.**

"**She must have got some crazy idea in her head that Albus is conspiring against the Ministry of Magic. She's contacting Cornelius Fudge as we speak. They're going to…" she broke off with a gasp, "No!"**

"**What?" we all asked.**

"**They're going to arrest Professor Dumbledore," she finished shakily.**

"**But they can't!" I exclaimed, "Don't they understand? The students here **_**need**_** Albus!"**

"**No, they don't understand," said Edward grimly, "They're paranoid. Their denial's made them go mad."**

"**We've got to warn Dumbledore!" cried Renesmee.**

"**There's no point," muttered Alice, "He can't do anything about it, and he won't run. He's not the kind of person to hide."**

"**But…" I began.**

"**There isn't anything we can do, Bella," said Alice, "Cornelius Fudge has just left the Ministry. He will be here by midnight and Albus will be gone by morning."**

"**Can't we at least talk to them; tell them he's innocent?"**

**Edward was shaking his head. "Umbridge may be ignorant of our kind, but I doubt Mr Fudge is. If he finds out Albus let vampires into the school, it won't help our case. And if they get rid of him, then we at least have to stay."**

**Alice cried out suddenly, her eyes glazing over once again. "No!" she shouted, sounding even more horrified than before, "No, no, no!"**

"**What is it?" six voices asked apprehensively.**

**She looked up at us, trembling, and I noticed Edward was frozen in horror. "It gets worse. The Volturi have made their decision."**

**I choked out a gasp. "They're joining Voldemort?"**

**Alice nodded slowly. "This is bad. This is very bad," she breathed.**

**The door suddenly swung open and Harry, Ron and Hermione entered.**

"**What's going on?" wondered Harry.**

**We all looked at each other. I really didn't want to give Harry something else to stress over, and if we told him he would do something stupid, I was sure of it.**

"**Nothing," replied Alice smoothly, "You don't need to worry."**

**And she was such a good liar that they believed her.**

*******

**The next morning Harry stormed up to me and Edward, furious.**

"**Why didn't you tell me?" he demanded.**

**We tried acting innocent. "Tell you what?" I asked.**

"**Don't play dumb! Alice saw Umbridge get Dumbledore kicked out, didn't she?"**

**I sighed and Edward nodded.**

"**And you didn't say anything?" he yelled.**

"**Calm down, Harry," I told him gently, but he was too angry.**

"**We could've stopped them!" Harry shouted, "We could've…"**

"**We could've done nothing, Harry," said Edward seriously, "There isn't anything we could've done to help him."**

"**We didn't tell you because we knew you'd do something rash and make things worse," I said, "We know you, Harry."**

**Harry glared at us and took a few deep breaths. "Umbridge and some of the students noticed us disappearing in the evenings when we had the DA meetings. She thought Dumbledore was training us to fight. It's my fault…"**

"**No!" I said sharply, "Don't blame yourself! It is not your fault."**

**Harry looked lost for a second, and I wanted to comfort him, but he spun on his heel and marched off.**

**Professor Umbridge named herself Headmistress of Hogwarts that morning, to the Slytherins' glee and everyone else's dismay. She formed her own little army of students, the 'Inquisitorial Squad', who strutted proudly around the school like particularly evil hall monitors. It was a great topic of gossip in the Gryffindor common room that evening.**

"**So have Umbridge's minions docked points from any of you yet?" asked Fred.**

**Harry, Ron and Hermione scowled and nodded.**

"**They got Emmett at lunch because he was apparently being too loud," I said, "But I think they were just hoping to impress Rose."**

**Edward shook his head in disgust. "It didn't work."**

"**Yeah," nodded George, "Montague tried to get us this morning but we shoved him in the Vanishing Cabinet on the first floor before he could finish."**

"**Haven't seen him since," added Fred casually.**

**I frowned in disapproval. "But you could've hurt him!" I scolded.**

"**I hope so," said Fred, "He'd deserve it."**

"**That's terrible," I told them coldly.**

"**We're sorry we can't be as ethical as the almighty vampires," answered George, rolling his eyes, and Edward and I shushed him with stern glares.**

"**But you'll get into terrible trouble!" exclaimed Hermione.**

**They shrugged. "We don't really care about getting into trouble anymore," Fred explained, "We think that now, with Dumbledore gone, a bit of mayhem is just what our new Head deserves."**

"**And what does that entail?" asked Ron nervously.**

**George winked. "You'll find out tomorrow at lunch."**

"**And you stay out of our heads," Fred warned Edward, wagging a finger at him.**

**At noon the next day we found out exactly what kind of mischief the twins had in mind. We were sitting at the Gryffindor table, talking with Ron and Hermione, when a loud BANG! echoed throughout the hall, shaking the windows.**

**Everyone dashed to the doors and looked out into the Entrance Hall cautiously, just as another bang sounded. It didn't take long to find the source of the noise. Someone had set off a collection of bright fireworks, and the Hall was full of coloured sparks.**

"**Brilliant!" shouted Ron, grinning like the Cheshire cat.**

**Professor Umbridge ran into the hall, shrieking threats, and Harry followed her, only to stop and laugh at the prank.**

"**What was he doing with her?" I asked Edward.**

"**She tried to slip him a truth potion," he replied quietly.**

**I frowned in worry, but then a few more fireworks went off and I had to laugh. Rosalie came up behind us.**

"**Where's Emmett?" she asked, gritting her teeth.**

"**Uh oh."**

**Edward burst out laughing. We looked around and saw Emmett running out of the hall after a flash of red.**

"**He is in big trouble," growled Rose, stalking off after him.**

**Alice, Jasper, Renesmee and Jacob joined us, and we leaned back to enjoy the show. Everyone applauded every few minutes, and clapped when Professor Umbridge unsuccessfully tried to get rid of the fireworks.**

**For the rest of the day, classes were interrupted by stray fireworks, and even the teachers seemed to enjoy them. Or perhaps it was just watching Umbridge running around after the crackers that amused them.**

**Even more amusing was watching Rosalie shout at Emmett for joining the Weasleys in their prank. In the end, he reluctantly promised not to do it again and trudged off gloomily. He seemed to cheer up by evening, though. At dinner, he stood up and shouted, "Long live the ranga twins!" to much applause. (A/N For those who don't know the term, 'ranga' is short for orang-utan, and is used in reference to red-heads where I live.)**

There was a party in the Gryffindor common room that night, in which Fred and George were the centre of attention. I shouted out congratulations over the noise, and Edward clapped them on the back before we went up to the dormitory for peace and quiet.

When Harry came up to bed, he had another dream from which I couldn't block him, and Edward recited quietly in my ear. Apparently, the dream had progressed further than usual before he was abruptly woken by another firework outside. We were starting to worry that he wasn't as anxious about the visions as he probably should've been. But maybe we were making a fuss over nothing.


	20. 23 Escape and Exams

**Disclaimer:**** I don't own Harry Potter or Twilight. **

**List of POVs:**

**Bella – BPOV**

**Edward – EPOV**

**Renesmee – NPOV**

**Jacob – JPOV**

**Alice – APOV**

**Jasper – JasPOV**

**Emmet – EmPOV**

**Rosalie – RPOV**

**Harry – HPOV**

**Ron – RonPOV**

**Hermione – HerPOV**

**Thankyou again for all the reviews!! The proper action begins in this chapter. I have had a couple of reviews asking me if much will be changed in the Potter-universe. So that I don't disappoint anyone at the end, I just want to tell you that since I'm paralleling OOTP, and I'm planning on also writing sequels to parallel books 6 and 7, I don't want to change anything too major.**

**23. Escape and Exams**

**EPOV**

Carlisle was busy in the hospital wing when I went to tell him about Bella failing to shield Harry's mind from his dreams. The Slytherin boy Fred and George had trapped in the Vanishing Cabinet had reappeared; stuck in a toilet on the fourth floor. The poor boy was extremely confused, and even Carlisle was trying not to laugh.

Chuckling quietly to myself, I left the hospital wing to find Bella and tell her what had happened. As I passed a corridor on the second floor, Harry flew past me, breathing heavily and heart racing. His thoughts were in a jumbled mess and he didn't turn when I called after him. Sighing, I looked around to make sure no one was watching before running vampire speed to come to a stop in front of him, halting him in his tracks.

"What's the matter?" I asked.

Harry tried to duck around me, but I grabbed his arm and pulled him back. Giving up, he leaned against the wall, panting, and glared at me. He didn't answer, but I saw his thoughts clearly. I watched as Severus Snape threw well-aimed jars at his head before chasing him out of his office. _"Get out, get out, I don't want to see you in this office ever again!"_ he bellowed in Harry's mind, his expression beyond fury.

I growled angrily. "He won't teach you Occlumency anymore," I hissed, and Harry nodded silently. I turned and started walking in the direction of the dungeons. "I'll talk to him."

"No!" Harry spoke for the first time. "You can't!"

I looked at him. "You can't just stop learning to protect your mind, Harry. It's of the utmost importance that you don't. Bella can't even shield you anymore."

Harry frowned. "Even if you talked to him, I doubt you'd change his mind. You should have seen him; he was furious."

"I _did_ see him. You showed me, remember?" He continued to look at me intently, and his hands were clenched into fists. I sighed and ran a hand through my hair. "God, Harry, what did you do?" I asked.

He replayed the scene for me: entering a Pensieve; intruding on his worst memories; watching as his own father tormented a fifteen-year-old Severus…

I shook my head and tried to stop listening. "I see," I muttered.

"What do you think of that, then?" he asked coldly.

"Honestly," I replied, "I think that was probably the most idiotic, foolish thing you could've done. However, I see how this must have upset you, and I won't talk to Severus for you. God, Harry, what were you thinking?" He shrugged helplessly, and I saw what was really worrying him. "Oh."

Harry scowled at me. "Stay out of my head!"

I looked back apologetically. "I apologise. I can't really help it. But Severus's reaction isn't what upset you, was it? It was actually _watching_ the memory."

Harry looked away and ducked his head. "Snape's always told me how my dad was…arrogant. I thought it was just a grudge, that it wasn't actually true, but seeing _that…"_

_He actually was every bit as arrogant as Snape always said he was, _he finished in his mind, not intending for me to hear it.

"I'm sure he wasn't really," I said, although I wasn't entirely convinced myself, "From what I've heard from everyone else, all their memories, your father was a good man."

Harry sighed. "I want to believe that, trust me. You of all people should know how much I want to believe that. But it's just hard to at the moment."

I nodded sympathetically. "I'm probably not the one you should really be talking to about this," I told him, "Speak with your friends, or maybe Bella. You're closer to her."

Harry looked thoughtful. _Maybe if I spoke to Lupin…or maybe Sirius…_

I interrupted his internal musing. "I don't know that's such a good idea, Harry. If you get caught, everything can be ruined."

He looked disappointed. "Yeah, I guess."

But I could hear that he hadn't completely dismissed the idea, and I smiled exasperatedly, in spite of myself.

***

A few days later, Harry still hadn't given up on the idea to speak with his godfather. He had made up his mind on the matter, and all he really needed was an opportunity. Word got to Fred and George that he needed a distraction, and they began planning.

Harry himself was rather occupied. His year level was scheduled for Careers Advice throughout the following week, and his thoughts strayed from his future paths beyond Hogwarts to plans on talking to Sirius.

_I'll have to use the Floo network from Umbridge's office,_ I caught him thinking one evening; _I'll take my Invisibility Cloak and sneak in while Fred and George distract her. I might need to use my knife to get into her office, if _Alohomora_ doesn't work. They promised me five minutes; ten tops._

Although Fred and George (and the other Weasleys for that matter) encouraged his risky behaviour, Hermione was less than impressed. _If he gets caught, he'll get into such terrible trouble! He'll get expelled for sure! And then Umbridge will force him to drink Veritaserum so that he tells her who he was talking to, and then she'll know about Sirius and he'll get sent back to Azkaban! Doesn't Harry realise how risky this is? He's being so stupid!_

Everyone's thoughts on the matter were starting to drive me crazy, as I told Bella. She stroked my hair sympathetically and took me hunting, away from the humans and their jumbled minds.

The morning before Harry broke into Professor Umbridge's office, Alice danced up to the Gryffindor table to speak with us. "Stop nagging him, Hermione," she said, rolling her eyes, "You're not going to change his mind, at least not that I can see. Besides, everything's going to work out fine."

"It is?" asked Harry hopefeully.

Alice nodded. "But that doesn't mean you should be any less careful. My visions change, as you know."

The bell rang then, and everyone stood up to go to class. Alice stopped Fred and George before they could leave the hall and gave them a hug each. "I'm going to miss you two!" she exclaimed, standing on her chair to give Fred a kiss on the cheek, "Your stunt is going to be inspiring; brilliant."

The twins grinned goofily, and she kissed George's cheek. "Well, thanks," they said in unison.

Alice stepped back to eye them. "Now don't you two get all cocky," she said, "Your mother won't be happy with you when you get home."

Their smiles didn't fade and they shrugged. "Ah well," muttered Fred.

"What else can you expect from Mum?" added George.

They staged their big farewell scene at lunchtime, and it was, as Alice put it, inspiring. To begin with, they transformed one of the corridors into a swamp, and then allowed themselves to be herded into the Entrance Hall by Professor Umbridge. The entire school gathered around the edge of the Hall to see what the commotion was about, and the twins enjoyed the spotlight. They beamed at everyone and even bowed.

Umbridge was unimpressed. "So, you think it is amusing to turn a school corridor into a swamp, do you?" she demanded victoriously.

"Pretty amusing, yeah," replied Fred casually, and by the quiet giggles circling the audience, most of the other students agreed.

Harry appeared behind Ron, Hermione, Bella and I then.

"Hey," he whispered, pulling off the Invisibility Cloak.

Hermione looked at him anxiously. "How'd it go?" she asked quietly.

He just nodded, and Hermione let out a small sigh of relief.

Umbridge was still speaking to the Weasley twins. "You two are about to learn what happens to wrong-doers in my school," she announced.

"You know what?" asked Fred, "I don't think we are." It was clear he had rehearsed his lines, and I thought they sounded a bit tacky, but everyone held their breath in anticipation. "George," he continued, "I think we've outgrown full-time education."

"I've been feeling that way myself," agreed George in the same carefree voice.

"Time to test our talents in the real world, d'you reckon?"

"Definitely," answered George firmly.

Across the Hall, Alice was bouncing on the soles of her feet eagerly, and Emmett was beaming in pride. The twins raised their wands in unison.

"_Accio brooms!"_

From far-off in the castle, I clearly heard a crash as their broomsticks broke away from their bonds and flew obediently to their masters. Without hesitation, Fred and George climbed onto their brooms, to the applause of the watching students.

"STOP THEM!" ordered Professor Umbridge, starting forward, but the twins were already rising into the air on their brooms.

"Make sure our legacy lives on!" shouted Fred.

"Yeah, give her hell for us, Peeves!" added George. The poltergeist saluted and George nodded back. Then he added, as an afterthought, "You too, Emmett!"

"Hell yeah!" My giant of a brother whooped and whistled and not even Rosalie stopped him. She just rolled her eyes, smiling, and muttered, "Idiot."

Fred and George grinned one more time before turning their brooms around and leaving Hogwarts for good.

***

Just as they asked, the twins' legacy lived on in aspiring trouble-makers over the next few weeks. Emmett was the cause of most of the mischief that occurred around the school and he became so bad that Esme had to have a talk with him. He looked very gloomy the next time we saw him.

Carlisle was also kept very busy with all the Slytherins who had been jinxed, particularly members of the Inquisitorial Squad.

The last Quidditch match of the year was upon the school, drawing with it nerves and anxiety to the Ravenclaw and Gryffindor teams. Unfortunately for us, the sun was shining the day of the game, so Bella and I decided to go hunting with Alice and Jasper.

We left a few minutes after the match started, when we could cross the grounds to the forest without being seen, but when we got to the edge of the trees, we found three others already there.

"What are you doing here?" Alice asked Harry, Hermione and Hagrid.

Hagrid jumped at the sound of her voice and looked around shiftily. "I need ter show these two somethin' in the forest," he admitted. I listened to his thoughts and found that the 'something' was in fact his giant brother. "Er, yeh four should prob'ly come along too."

I shook my head, knowing how dangerous giants were, even to vampires. "I don't want Bella anywhere near it," I told him.

Harry and Hermione exchanged panicked glances, and Bella glared at me.

"Whatever it is, I'm sure I'll be fine," she said indignantly.

I groaned, knowing there was no use arguing. "Fine! Lead the way, Hagrid."

As we walked, Alice looked frustrated, earning worried glances from Jasper. "I can't _see_ anything!" she hissed in annoyance.

Hagrid led us to the clearing where his brother lay sleeping. The smell in the glade was strong and extremely unpleasant. I wrinkled up my nose against it, and saw Bella, Alice and Jasper doing the same.

It took Harry and Hermione a second to realise what they were looking at, and then they were shocked.

"Oh, Hagrid, you _didn't!"_ exclaimed Hermione in a shaky whisper.

I instinctively pulled Bella behind me, out of harms way.

"I _had_ ter bring him, Hermione, I _had_ ter," Hagrid replied pleadingly.

I shook my head in exasperation. "You really should've told them."

Harry shot me a look. "You _knew_ about this?" he asked in disbelief.

My family and I nodded. "It's been really annoying," said Alice grumpily, "I haven't been able to see _anything_ while we've been hunting because he keeps getting in the way!"

"But why?" asked Hermione, "Oh, _Hagrid!"_

"Hermione, I couldn' leave him," he said earnestly, "See, he's my _brother!"_

Harry and Hermione were silent. All I got from their thoughts was: _!!!._

"His name's Grawp," added Hagrid, and they stared at him with their mouths hanging open. "I wouldn've told yer, 'cept I'm likely ter get the sack any day now, and I can' leave him here all alone."

"You want us to look after him?" asked Harry faintly.

Hagrid nodded desperately.

"You can't honestly expect these two to look after him!" exclaimed Jasper, "Giants are even dangerous to vampires!"

"He's not that dangerous!" disagreed Hagrid, "Yeh just need ter come out here maybe once a week an' have a little chat with him. You'll do it?"

"Well," said Harry, eyeing the giant uncertainly, "We'll try."

Hagrid beamed. "I knew I could count on yeh, Harry. I'll wake 'im up, then…introduce yeh…"

"What?" shriek Hermione, "No, Hagrid, you really don't need to…"

But Hagrid was already approaching Grawp, carrying a large branch with him, and poked him in the back.

The giant let out a deafening roar and I pushed Bella directly behind me. Jasper did the same with Alice, and we all stared up at the giant.

"Look, I've brought some friends ter meet yeh! This is Harry, Grawp! He migh' come ter visit yeh if I have ter go away, understand? An' this is Hermione, see?" he paused and looked at Hermione, "Do yeh mind if he called yeh Hermy? On'y it's a difficult name fer him ter remember."

Hermione shook her head, her eyes wide with terror.

"This is Hermy, Grawp!" Hagrid continued, "An' that's Edward, an' Bella an' Alice an' Jasper. Is'n' tha' nice, eh? GRAWPY NO!" he shouted.

A huge hand shot towards Hermione. Bella and I grabbed her and Harry and pulled them behind a tree. A second later, we were all in hunting crouches, hissing at the giant threateningly. Grawp peered down at us curiously, before turning away and playing with a tree.

"Righ'," said Hagrid, "Well, I reckon tha's enough fer one day. We'll, er, go back now, shall we?"

Harry and Hermione couldn't get out of there fast enough. While the rest of us backed away quickly, not taking our eyes off the huge threat, they followed Hagrid at a jog until Grawp was out of sight.

"Are you two alright?" asked Bella anxiously. She went to put an arm around Hermione, who was very white in the face and shaking.

Alice was hissing angrily to herself, cursing Hagrid under her breath, which was very unlike herself. Jasper's eyes darted around the forest, searching for any more threats.

"There goes our hunt," sighed Bella, a slight hysterical giggle in her voice.

"We'll just have to go another time," I told her, "If Grawp doesn't scare away all our prey by then."

The Quidditch match had just finished and a crowd was starting to flood out of the stadium, so we ran at vampire speed back to the castle before anyone could notice the sun glinting off our skin.

To everyone's surprise, apart from Alice's, of course, Gryffindor had won the game, and, with it, the Quidditch cup. Ron was the hero in Gryffindor tower that night, and Harry and Hermione seemed to enjoy the good atmosphere rather than thinking about the giant in the forest. Bella and I, on the other hand, could dwell on both with our advanced vampire brains, and the celebrations in the common room were just about lost on us beneath our stress.

***

To make up for our interrupted hunting trip, we went on Monday evening with Carlisle, Esme, Emmett and Rosalie instead. Alice and Jasper had gone the night before and Renesmee and Jacob were planning on heading out the next week.

The week was fairly laid-back for us, as the fifth years we shared our classes with mostly busied themselves with preparing for their upcoming exams. The teachers no longer gave us homework, not that that ever tied us down, but we couldn't hang out with our friends as much as we would've liked. This didn't bother us too much; the skies were void of clouds so we couldn't go outside and instead helped them study. Bella and I didn't mind testing them and reassuring them, but others, like Jasper, weren't coping with the extra panic and anxiety in the air.

It also meant that when everyone else had their exams, we had free time. Bella and I mostly hung around in the Gryffindor common room, enjoying the peace of having my dormitory to ourselves for several hours at once, and we assumed the others occupied their time likewise.

Harry, Ron and Hermione's first exam was for Charms, which they spent the whole day on. By the sound of their thoughts, Harry and Hermione were fairly confident in their performance, but Ron was musing over the few mistakes he knew he'd made. The next morning we wished the three good luck before they left for their day of Transfiguration. Wednesday and Thursday passed much the same as the first two days, but on Friday Harry and Ron had the day off whilst Hermione attended her Ancient Runes exam before the weekend.

Saturday and Sunday we spent helping the three study for their last few exams. Harry and Ron weren't feeling particularly confident about their Potions test on Monday, so we mostly focused on that. Tuesday and Wednesday they said were fine, but Wednesday night, whilst they were absent for their Astronomy practical, was extremely eventful.

Professor Umbridge and five fellow Ministry of Magic employees paid Hagrid a visit in the middle of the night, and a full-out brawl occurred. Our family rushed down to help, but there wasn't much we could do without revealing ourselves.

Professor McGonagall hurried out into the yard to try and stop the attack, but the six turned their wands on her and sent Stunning spells straight into her chest. Her heartbeat stuttered for a moment before picking up a fast pace, and Carlisle ran to her side to check on her.

Hagrid fled the grounds and Minerva was taken straight to the hospital wing, where Carlisle did his best to help her. She didn't regain consciousness that night, however, and was transferred to St Mungo's the next morning.

Jacob and Renesmee went out hunting on Thursday, while the fifth years completed their final exam on History of Magic. After the previous night, I cautioned them to be extra careful and told them to stay away from Grawp. Bella nudged me in the ribs with a smile and told me to lighten up a bit.

"They'll be fine," she said, "They've been out alone before. Umbridge won't be able to hurt them."

I smiled back and sighed. "I know. I can't help worrying about them, though."

Bella stroked my face with the back of her hand. "She's your baby. It's in your nature to worry about her. I worry too."

We spent the day strolling around the castle. At one stage we went to visit Carlisle in the hospital wing, where it was very quiet except for a couple of patients, and we asked after Minerva.

"She'll live, but I don't know what damage will be done to her heart. She's fairly old, for a human, and I'm worried some of the damage might be permanent. She was taken to St Mungo's this morning. They should take care of her there."

"It was so horrible," Bella said angrily, "How could they do that to her?"

Carlisle shook his head sadly. "I don't know, Bella," he sighed, "I don't like to think that a human can be capable of that, but, apparently some of them are."

**JPOV**

I raced Nessie through the trees, listening to her tinkling-bell laugh and barking every now and then in response. I heard her giggle come from above me and looked up to see her standing high up on a tree branch. Rolling my eyes, I dashed into a cluster of trees and phased back into my human form and pulled on my shorts. I ran back to where she was and started climbing the tree after her.

When I got to the branch below her, she suddenly jumped back to the forest floor, leaving me alone in the tree, and laughed.

"No fair!" I called down to her.

Nessie just stuck out her tongue. "Try getting the deer from up there!" she teased before she spun around and sped off.

I jumped down from the tree, landing with a soft thump, and phased back. No sooner had I taken two strides than I heard Nessie scream.

I froze for a fraction of a second and the fur on my shoulders stood up. Then I was tearing through the forest after her, snarling and barking. Renesmee was the only thing on my mind, so by the time I caught the sickly sweet scent of vampire, the mist was already creeping towards me.

My sight cut out first, then my hearing and sense of smell. As the blackness took me over, I collapsed onto my belly, whining in discomfort. My mind was still clear, even though my senses were gone, and it didn't take long to realise what was happening to me.

It was that Italian vampire messing with me. The young male who could take away your senses! Somehow, they were here, and they had Renesmee! I tried growling, but my voice was gone and I could do nothing but let the dark wash over me.

When my senses came back to me, I was disoriented at first. But I quickly remembered Nessie and followed her scent, mixed with vampire, until it abruptly disappeared.

No! _No! NO!_


	21. 24 Captured

**Disclaimer:**** I don't own Harry Potter or Twilight. **

**List of POVs:**

**Bella – BPOV**

**Edward – EPOV**

**Renesmee – NPOV**

**Jacob – JPOV**

**Alice – APOV**

**Jasper – JasPOV**

**Emmet – EmPOV**

**Rosalie – RPOV**

**Harry – HPOV**

**Ron – RonPOV**

**Hermione – HerPOV**

**Wow, these reviews are amazing!!! Keep them coming!**

**24. Captured**

**JPOV**

This couldn't be happening! I howled and it echoed throughout the entire forest in a haunting sound. I had to get the others! The second I realised this, I was back on my feet and heading back towards the castle, not even bothering to phase back until I was at the steps outside the front doors.

I quickly pulled my clothes back on and sprinted inside, into the crowd of students pouring out of the Great Hall. It looked like their exam was over.

I followed Edward and Bella's scents to Umbridge's office where they were accompanied by their siblings, Ron, Ginny, Luna, Neville and a pile of unconscious Slytherins lying on the floor.

Edward's head shot up when I burst into the room, responding to my panicked thoughts.

"Jake?" asked Bella, "What's wrong? Where's Renesmee?"

"The Volturi are here!" I told them, "Renesmee…"

Before I could see what was happening, I was pinned to the wall, Edward's hands at my throat.

"What happened?" he snarled, baring his teeth at me, "What did you do?"

"The small one…cut off my senses…" I gasped, "They took her…"

"No!" he shouted, "How could you let this happen?"

Bella was at his side. "We trusted you with her!" she yelled, "You were supposed to protect her!"

"Edward! Bella! Stop it!" commanded Alice, her voice shaking, "Yelling at the _mutt_ won't help Renesmee! We need to find her!"

Edward let go of me and punched a hole in the wall. "Where could they have taken her, Alice?" he shouted, "You can't see them!"

His hands were tensed into claws, and I could see pain in his eyes. Alice looked at him, appearing calm but I could see her hands trembling slightly. "Voldemort wants us to go to the Department of Mysteries! That's why he sent Harry that vision! Sirius isn't really there, and he guessed we'd know that! He knew we'd try to stop Harry, so he baits us instead!"

"The Department of Mysteries," Bella repeated.

"We need to go right away, then!" I cried, and for once, everyone agreed with me.

We raced down to the edge of the forest, where Harry and Hermione stumbled out, covered in foul-smelling blood.

"They've got Renesmee," Alice told them, and they looked horrified.

"We need to get to London immediately," said Emmett, his usual sense of humour vanished completely.

"How?" asked Hermione.

"Yeah, we were just wondering that ourselves," said Ron.

Alice turned to him, Ginny, Neville and Luna. "I suppose you guys think you're coming along, do you?"

The four of them plus Harry and Hermione nodded fervently.

"You need to understand just how dangerous it will be," Bella told them, "You could get killed."

"How do we get to London?" repeated Harry.

"We'll have to run," said Jasper, "It will be quickest that way."

Neville and Luna looked confused, but were ignored.

I darted into the trees to phase quickly, and returned to find the humans climbing onto the Cullens' backs.

"Doesn't the blood bother you?" asked Hermione from Jasper's back.

He shook his head. "Giant blood," he replied, "It's not at all appealing."

As soon as Ginny was in place on Bella's back, we took off, and were on our way to the Ministry of magic.

**BPOV**

My baby's in danger. My baby's in danger.

The thought swirled around in my head repeatedly as I ran, and I felt the vampire equivalent to nausea. I choked back the sobs that were threatening to spill from my mouth and quickened my pace so that it was matching Edward's; the fastest in the family.

Renesmee. Nessie. My baby.

Of course, she'd been in danger before - I shuddered at the memory – but at least back then she was with us – with me. I was able to hold her, protect her, say goodbye when I was sure everything was lost…

Something was stuck in my mouth and I opened it to let it out. A harrowing wail, not unlike the sound an injured cat makes, spilled from my chest, making Ginny shiver on my back. Once the sound of my despair and pain was out, I couldn't hold the rest of the sobs back.

**EPOV**

Bella's shriek echoed my own pain and I clenched my teeth together against the agony. It was as bad as the time I thought Bella was dead, but this time I was also furious.

If they hurt my baby, I would tear them limb from limb and burn them slowly. And I wouldn't even be able to enjoy the sound of their screams.

If they _hurt_ her…

A vicious snarl escaped my throat, and the sound was more feral than any I'd made in my hundred vampire years.

If they hurt her…

**BPOV**

We ran faster and faster, the humans on our backs barely slowing us down. Our legs blurred beneath us and I could almost feel my muscles burning, which was extremely unusual.

We made it to London within mere hours. Twilight had passed a while earlier, so the streets were lit by bright streetlights.

We let the humans down and Harry directed us to a phone-box. We all managed to squeeze inside, which I vaguely thought was quite an accomplishment what with the size of Emmett and Jacob, and Edward dialled six two double-four two. The telephone box shuddered and started sinking into the ground, like something off _Get Smart._

The phone-box jolted to a stop end we rushed out into an empty Atrium. It seemed like all the workers had gone home for the night and it was eerily quiet apart from our rescue party.

"Which way?" I hissed, looking at Harry.

"Over here," he whispered, leading us down the hall in the direction of the lifts.

We all piled into the elevator, and Harry jabbed the number nine. I fidgeted anxiously as the lift descended, much too slowly for my liking. Edward reached behind him and took my hand, giving it a firm squeeze. It would normally have reassured me but he was too tense himself, his posture stiff.

After what felt like a lifetime, the lift slowed to a halt and the doors slid open smoothly.

"Let's go," murmured Harry, exiting the lift and starting down the dark corridor.

"Is this the one from your dreams?" I asked in a whisper.

Harry nodded and kept walking until he was about six feet away from the door at the end. "Listen," he said, "Maybe…maybe a couple of people should stay here as a lookout, and…"

"And how're we going to let you know something's coming?" demanded Ginny, "You could be miles away."

"See," said Emmett, "this is where a cell phone or something would come in handy."

"We're coming with you, Harry," said Neville.

"You have no choice in the matter," Edward told him, gesturing for him to continue down the corridor.

He walked purposefully up to the door and it swung open at his touch. We filed into the next room, which was all black apart from flickering candles, and Neville shut the door. The walls started spinning for a few seconds, so fast that to human eyes the doors would've been reduced to a blur. The spinning didn't last long, before it came to an abrupt stop.

Everyone stood still for a second.

"What was that about?" asked Ron finally.

"I think it was to stop us knowing which door we came in through," whispered Ginny.

"That one," said Rosalie confidently, pointing.

"Are you sure?" asked Harry.

"It wasn't all that fast for our eyes," replied Alice.

"Where do we go now, Harry?" I breathed, anxious to get to Renesmee.

"In the dreams," he began, "I went straight ahead through another door into a room that kind of…glitters."

"Well, if you went straight ahead, we should start at the door we came through," said Edward, walking over to the original door.

Harry joined him, and walked to the door now directly in front of him. He pushed it open and we followed him into another room that did, indeed glitter. The room was full of hundreds of clocks of all sizes and types. The glittering, that reminded me a bit of vampire skin, came from a huge bell jar made of crystal that stood at the far end of the room in front of yet another door. Harry headed for the door and we followed him. When he pushed at the door it opened willingly, and everyone pulled their wands out.

"This is it," Harry whispered excitedly.

He entered the next room first, and we trailed after him cautiously, looking around. The room was filled with floor-to-ceiling shelves, all stacked with small glass orbs.

"We need to find row ninety-seven," he told us.

"That's this way," said Jasper, pointing right.

We crept past the rows of shelves…sixty-one…seventy-eight…eighty-four…eighty-five…

I started feeling uneasy, and it took me a second to figure out why. I reached for Edward's arm. "I can't smell anything!"

Edward frowned, his eyes anxious. "No, there's something, but…"

"I can't find Renesmee's scent!" I breathed, my eyes widening.

We stopped and looked at each other. "Harry!" called Edward worriedly.

It was too late by then. Harry had stopped a short way ahead of us, looking around. "He should be here," he said to himself, "Somewhere about…here…"

"Harry," we called again, and he wheeled around wildly to stare at us.

"What?" he growled.

"No one's here," I choked, "Not Sirius…or Renesmee."

Harry was silent, refusing to believe it. He started running down the aisle, and then back.

Edward and I looked at the others. Jacob's face was pale, and Hermione and Ginny were shaking.

"No," said Alice, "She has to be here…somewhere. I still can't see anything!"

Hope flared in my chest like fire. "But…where?"

We turned at the sound of Ron's gasp, and found him staring in shock at one of the glass orbs. "Harry?" he called, "Have you seen this?"

"What?" asked Harry, jogging back. His face fell when he saw nothing of immediate importance.

"It's…it's got your name on it," answered Ron shakily, pointing at the orb.

"My name?' repeated Harry blankly, craning his neck to have a look. He stared at it in surprise for a moment, and then, hesitatingly, stretched out an arm to pick it up.

"Harry, I don't think you should touch it," Hermione told him suddenly, sounding scared.

"Why not?" asked Harry stubbornly, "It's got my name on it."

"Really," said Edward, "Don't touch it."

"Don't, Harry," added Neville, looking pale.

Harry looked at us all for a second, and I thought I saw a flicker of annoyance in his eyes. Without another moment of hesitation, he reached back up and lifted the orb off the shelf, bringing it down to his chest.

Everyone stared at the glass ball, waiting for something to happen.

Nothing did.

There was no sound except for our breathing, and then…

"Edward!" I cried, hearing the sound of a dozen heartbeats suddenly coming from all directions before surrounding us.

"Very good, Potter," said an unfamiliar, drawling voice, "Now, turn around, nice and slowly, and give that to me."

My family spun around with a hiss, but the others turned slowly, carefully. Lit wands were pointed directly at our hearts, so the ones whose didn't beat shifted so we were guarding the ones whose did.

"To me, Potter," repeated the man, ignoring the hostile vampires in front of him, and reaching his hand out.

"Where's Sirius?" asked Harry, clutching the orb tighter to him.

The Death Eaters laughed harshly.

"The Dark Lord always knows!" announced a woman to our left.

"Always," agreed the first male, "Now, give me the prophecy, Potter."

The Death Eater took a step forward, towards Harry, and I slipped into a crouch, the other vampires doing the same.

"Where is Renesmee?" I hissed, baring my teeth at the male.

He didn't pay any attention to me, his eyes focused solely on Harry. "Give me the prophecy, Potter," he repeated, still calm on the surface, but I could tell he was losing his patience, "or we start using wands."

I leaned forward, hissing quietly. Edward took my arm and tugged me back gently. "Let Harry handle this," he breathed in my ear.

"Go on, then," said Harry, sounding indifferent. I didn't turn, but I knew he had raised his wand, as had the others.

"He's starting to realise," Edward told us, his voice lower than a breath, "He's starting to understand Sirius isn't here."

"Hand over the prophecy and no one need get hurt," said the male.

Edward hissed at the lie, and I stiffened in response. Harry managed a sarcastic chuckle.

"Yeah, right," he snorted, "I give you this…prophecy, is it? And you'll let us skip off home, will you?"

And what about Renesmee? I thought to myself, shuddering internally.

The female Death Eater finally lost her patience. _"Accio prophe…"_ she began.

"_Protego!"_ Harry shouted, holding on to the prophecy tightly.

A low growl went around our family when the woman attacked. She stepped forward and pulled the dark hood off her face, revealing herself. I recognised Bellatrix Lestrange, and from everyone's reactions, I figured that they also knew who she was.

"Do you really need more persuasion?" she asked, "Very well." She looked at Ginny, "Watch while we torture the little girl."

Our protective circle around the group tightened.

"You will not attack any of us," growled Edward, narrowing his eyes, "Not lest you wish to smash the prophecy in the process."

"And I don't think your boss would be too happy with you if that were the case," added Harry coolly.

Despite myself, my lips turned up into a smirk when Bellatrix hesitated.

"So," continued Harry casually, "What kind of prophecy is this, anyway?"

"Do not play games with us, Potter," warned the male.

"I'm not playing games."

I realised what he was doing. He was keeping them talking; distracting them. He had a plan.

"Dumbledore never told you the reason you bear that scar was hidden in the bowels of the Department of Mysteries?" asked the male.

It was Harry's turn to be distracted. "I…what? What about my scar?" he asked, breaking away from his calm façade.

The male laughed and continued talking. Harry took the opportunity to whisper instructions to the rest of us.

"Smash shelves when I say _now,"_ he whispered.

The male was still talking, a sneer in his voice, oblivious to the game of Chinese Whispers going around the circle.

"So why did he want to steal a prophecy about me?" asked Harry, sounding genuinely curious.

"About both of you, Potter," corrected the Death Eater, "Haven't you ever wondered why the Dark Lord tried to kill you as a baby?"

I heard Harry's sharp intake of breath and stutter of heart. To my right, Rosalie hissed softly at the reminder of attempted infanticide.

There was a pause, then…

"NOW!" shouted Harry, and we sprang into action.

While the six humans smashed the shelves with the Reductor curse, my family launched themselves forward at the Death Eaters, Jacob phasing mid-leap.

I bee-lined for the male and held him by the throat.

"Where is my daughter?" I spat in his face.

"Oh, that pretty little thing?" he asked, "Don't worry, she's here. For now…"

I was distracted by Rosalie's cry of pain. I turned to find her curled up on the ground, with a Death Eater pointing their wand at her chest. Dropping the male, I barrelled into her attacker, easily prising the wand from their hand and snapping it in half. Rosalie sprang to her feet, looking slightly shaken, and shot me a grateful smile before rejoining the fight.

"RUN!" I heard Harry shout.

I grabbed the person nearest to me – Hermione – and Edward, Alice, Jasper and I sprinted away from the Death Eaters. We ran through the door into the room of clocks and slammed the door behind us.

Edward and Alice dropped Harry and Neville (I hadn't realised they'd carried them along) and I put Hermione down.

"Where are the others?" gasped Harry.

"They went the other way," replied Edward, "Rose, Emmett and Jacob are with them."

"Listen!" hissed Alice, nodding at the door.

We went silent and heard hurried footsteps and shouting following us.

"Leave Nott, _leave him, I say_ – his injuries will be nothing to the Dark Lord compared to losing that prophecy." The male was the speaker.

"Lucius Malfoy," whispered Harry.

"Draco's father?" I breathed back, and he nodded.

"We'll split into pairs and search," Malfoy continued, "and don't forget, be gentle with Potter until we've got the prophecy, you can kill the others if necessary, but watch out for the vampires – Bellatrix, Rodolphus, you take the left; Crabbe, Rabastan, go right – Jugson, Dolohov, the door straight ahead – Macnair and Avery, through here – Rookwood, over there – Mulciber, come with me!"

"What do we do?" whispered Hermione shakily.

Edward, Alice, Jasper and I slipped into crouches facing the door.

"Get behind us," we told them, "Hide."

The three ducked under a few desks, and from behind the door, we heard someone shout, _"Alohomora!"_

We tensed, leaning forward, and the door swung open with a bang. Two Death Eaters hurried inside, and stopped, wands drawn, when they saw us.

We growled warningly, and they pointed their wands at me and Alice – the weak looking ones. I quickly tried spreading my shield over the others, but I didn't get far before it snapped back into place. I gasped with the effort, and the Death Eaters took aim.

"_Crucio!"_ they shouted together, and two jets of light shot towards us. The shield over my mind made the one that hit me bounce off my chest without harming me, but Alice squeaked in surprise and pain.

The attack on Alice was enough for Jasper, who launched himself at the two Death Eaters, knocking one of them to the floor. The Cruciatus Curse on Alice broke off, and she gasped, joining her husband and hitting the other Death Eater over the head with enough force to knock him unconscious. Jasper delivered a similar blow to the first Death Eater, and the two men slumped to the floor.

"Let's get out of here," muttered Alice.

Harry, Hermione and Neville crept out from their hiding spots, trembling on their feet. We started heading through the next door into the spinning room.

"What happened, Bella?" asked Edward urgently, and I shook my head, dazed.

"I tried shielding everyone, I swear!" I told him, "I don't know why it didn't work!"

"You're under too much stress, I expect," said Jasper, sounding worried, "It's too much for your mind to shield others."

"Well that's convenient to know," said a small, sweet voice from behind us, and we spun to face two more Death Eaters and a vampire with a smug smile on her angelic face.


	22. 25 Fight

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or Twilight.

List of POVs:

Bella – BPOV

Edward – EPOV

Renesmee – NPOV

Jacob – JPOV

Alice – APOV

Jasper – JasPOV

Emmet – EmPOV

Rosalie – RPOV

Harry – HPOV

Ron – RonPOV

Hermione – HerPOV

Thankyou so much for all the reviews, they've totally made my day! I have finished writing this story, and have started on a sequel, so there are only a few chapters left to publish!! I hope you enjoy this chapter, and, again, please keep reviewing!!

25. Fight

BPOV

"**Jane," I hissed.**

**Jane's smug smile widened. "Nice to see you, Bella. I've had the pleasure of meeting up with your daughter."**

**With a cry of rage I sprung forward, but Edward caught me around the waist and pulled me back.**

**Jane grinned, her scarlet eyes sparkling, and she looked past us at Harry, Hermione and Neville. "So these are the humans we're after. I shouldn't be surprised to see your **_**family**_** protecting them."**

"**No," agreed Edward flatly, "You shouldn't."**

**Jane sighed in faux disappointment. "We should let our masters know they're here, don't you think, boys?" she said to the two Death Eaters on either side of her.**

**One of the men smirked and turned to shout, "WE'VE GOT THEM! IN AN OFFICE OFF…"**

"_**Silencio!"**_** cried Hermione, stealing the man's voice.**

**Jane grinned brighter. "Not bad, human. You have talent. It's a shame you smell so good."**

**The other Death Eater started forward, and this time Harry stopped him. **_**"Petrificus Totalus!"**_

**The man's arms and legs snapped together, and he went stiff, falling forwards to the floor with a thump.**

**I took the chance to leap at Jane, my hands clawed and lips pulled back over my teeth.**

"**Get the others out of here!" yelled Edward over his shoulder at Alice and Jasper as he jumped at Jane from the side.**

**I didn't turn, but I supposed they had left, because the silent Death Eater chased after them. I grabbed Jane's arm and bit down on her shoulder. She screeched in pain and snapped her teeth at my face. I locked both her hands behind her back, pushing her head to the side with my other arm, exposing her neck to Edward, who approached us slowly.**

**Jane went still, smiling directly at Edward. My husband stopped, shuddering in pain. He clenched his teeth together, and I could see the agony in his face as she burned him with her mind.**

**I tightened my hold on Jane and leaned forward to hiss in her ear. **_**"Stop!"**_

**I watched Edward wince but make no other sound, and he dropped to his knees. I snarled, my grip on Jane loosening fractionally in my anxiety.**

**Before I realised what was happening, Jane spun to face me and sank her teeth into my forearm. The pain of her venom made me release her, and she fled the room, knowing she couldn't win against us.**

**I rubbed my arm, trying to take away the sting, hissing at the faint burn. The wound was already healed, and a silvery scar now marked my otherwise flawless skin.**

**Edward got to his feet and embraced me for barely a moment, before heading in the direction Alice and Jasper had gone with the others.**

**The scent of fresh blood reached my nostrils and we quickened our pace urgently. We heard Harry shout **_**"PETRIFICUS TOTALUS!"**_

**We entered the next room to find the Death Eater fall forward, his body bound together with Harry's curse. Alice and Jasper had frozen, their eyes unfocused, staring at Neville, who was clutching his nose from which blood was pouring. They came to their senses when we joined them, shaking their heads to clear the bloodlust.**

"**What happened to Jane?" Jasper asked immediately, holding his breath against the sweet scent of Neville's blood.**

"**She ran," replied Edward, "What happened in here?"**

"**We made them hide again. Dolohov," said Alice, pointing at the Death Eater on the floor, "cursed Hermione first. She's only unconscious, but her pulse is faint. Jasper and I were about to attack Dolohov when he kicked Neville in the face and broke his nose, which stopped us. Harry used **_**petrificus totalus**_** on him, and then you came in."**

**Alice picked up Hermione from where she was crumpled on the floor and swung her over her shoulder.**

"**Is she okay?" asked Harry desperately.**

**Alice nodded. "She's alive. Come on, we need to find the others."**

**We returned to the spinning room, and five people and one wolf tumbled through another door.**

"**You guys okay?" I asked, assessing them.**

**Ron seemed to be delirious, giggling uncontrollably, and Emmett supported Ginny, who was limping on a swollen ankle. Jacob's fur was matted with blood, but I couldn't tell if it was his or someone else's.**

**Rosalie nodded. "I think so. Ron's gone insane and Ginny broke her ankle but otherwise we're fine. Have you seen any of the Volturi?"**

**Edward nodded. "Jane caught up with us. She ran away, but not before she bit Bella."**

**Emmett looked at me, worried. "You alright Bells?"**

**I nodded, holding up my arm to show him. "Yeah. The venom stings a little, but it's already healed."**

"**What happened to Hermione?" asked Ginny in concern, wincing when she stood on her broken ankle.**

"**Dolohov jinxed her," replied Alice grimly.**

"**Is she okay?"**

"**She should be."**

"**We need to get out of here," I muttered, "We need to find Renesmee."**

**No sooner had I said this than another door burst open. Bellatrix Lestrange led three other Death Eaters in. On seeing us, Bellatrix shrieked, **_**"There they are!"**_

"**Get out of here!" Edward yelled at our friends, just as jets of red light shot around the room. I grabbed Luna and sprinted to the nearest door, the others on my heels.**

**Emmett entered the room last, carrying Ginny, and slammed the door behind him.**

"_**Colloportus!"**_** shouted Harry, locking the door against our enemies.**

"**It doesn't matter!" cried a male from the other side of the door, "There are other ways in – WE'VE GOT THEM, THEY'RE HERE!"**

**Jasper and Emmett stood guard at the door in case any Death Eaters got in, and the rest of us looked at our surroundings.**

"**Where are we?" I whispered.**

**The room was dark, and cluttered with desks. In the very centre of the room was a tank filled with greenish liquid and odd-looking things floating around in it. I studied the things. They were slightly rounded, with tentacle-like bits trailing behind them. With a wave of horror, I realised the things were in fact brains.**

"**Ugh!" I exclaimed, backing away from the tank, feeling sick.**

**I heard running footsteps outside the room, and something slammed hard into another door.**

"**Lock the doors!" yelled Harry, **_**"Colloportus!"**_

**Luna ran towards one of the doors. **_**"Collo –aaaaargh!"**_

**The door had slammed open and half a dozen Death Eaters came running in, sending Luna flying through the air. Rosalie caught her before she could slam into a desk, but she was already unconscious.**

**Bellatrix Lestrange bee-lined for Harry, and he ran from her, up to the other end of the room.**

**Ron was still delirious. "Hey!" he giggled, "Hey, Harry, there are **_**brains**_** in here, isn't that weird, Harry? Look – **_**Accio brain!"**_

"**No, don't!" I shouted, but the brain was already flying towards his outstretched hands. The second it came into contact with his skin, the tentacle things started wrapping themselves tightly around his body. Ron tugged at the tentacles, but they only tightened against his chest and he started to turn red from lack of oxygen.**

**I ran to him and started pulling at the tentacles and, when that didn't work, I sliced through them with my teeth. It was still difficult to free him, and he started to lose consciousness, his eyes rolling into the back of his head while I snapped my razor-sharp teeth at his bonds. Once I had freed him, I left him lying on the floor and turned back to the others who were still fighting the Death Eaters. Only my family and Neville were still on their feet, shooting spells back and forth. Harry dashed out of the room as I turned to look for him, and he was pursued by Death Eaters.**

**I heard a dog-like yelp and spun around to see Jacob sink to the ground in a pile of reddish fur. I leapt at his attacker with a snarl, but stopped when I caught the scent I had been looking for.**

"**Renesmee!" I shouted, sprinting for the next room. The others followed me, still shooting curses over their shoulders.**

**The hall was circular, with stone steps lining the walls down to a veiled archway in the exact centre of the room. Harry stood in front of the arch, panting heavily. My family ran to his side and faced the ten oncoming Death Eaters.**

"**Potter, your race is run," said Lucius Malfoy with a smirk, "now hand me the prophecy like a good boy. There are ten of us and only one of you."**

"**What are we then?" I yelled, "He's not alone! He's got us!"**

"**And me!" shouted Neville, running down the stairs. Before he could get far, one of the Death Eaters seized him from behind.**

**Malfoy chuckled harshly. "You seven aren't a match for us."**

**Emmett leaned forward with a snarl to prove him wrong.**

"**Oh, you won't attack us," drawled Malfoy, not sounding the least bit worried, "You don't want your little hybrid to get hurt, now, do you?"**

**Another door opened and eight newcomers entered, and lined up behind him. On Malfoy's right stood Jane, Alec and Felix, and beside him on his left was Aro, Marcus, Caius and Demetri.**

**Snarls ripped from my chest ferociously, but I made no move to attack, as Demetri was holding Renesmee, his teeth at her throat. Around me, the rest of my family echoed my growls.**

"**Lovely to see you again, Cullens," said Aro, smiling pleasantly.**

"**Why would you join these foul humans?" demanded Jasper.**

"**It's nothing personal," Aro assured us, "but we figured it's safer to have these powerful wizards allied with us, rather than against. They would be a threat to our kind otherwise."**

"**So it has nothing to do with destroying us?" I asked sarcastically, my eyes never straying from Renesmee.**

"**Why, dearest Bella, it would cause me much grief were anything to happen to your coven!" he replied in innocent surprise.**

**In response, I crouched lower, letting out a hiss.**

"**Now, Potter," continued Malfoy as though our exchange with Aro hadn't happened, "give me the prophecy."**

**Harry pushed past us, ignoring our sounds of protest, and faced Malfoy bravely. "Let the others go and I'll give it to you," he bargained, sounding desperate.**

**A few of the Death Eaters chuckled, and Aro laughed in delight.**

**Malfoy turned his attention to Neville, who was struggling in the Death Eater's grip. "It's Longbottom, isn't it?"**

"**Longbottom?" repeated Bellatrix Lestrange gleefully, "Why, I have had the pleasure of meeting your parents, boy."**

**Neville roared in outrage, and Bellatrix grinned in excitement. "Let's see how long Longbottom lasts before he cracks like his parents…unless Potter wants to give us the prophecy."**

"**DON'D GIB ID DO DEM!" shouted Neville under his broken nose.**

**Bellatrix's smile widened and she raised her wand. **_**"Crucio!"**_** she yelled.**

**The hall filled with echoes of Neville's piercing screams of agony until Bellatrix lowered her wand.**

"**Is that not enough persuasion?" she asked sweetly, "That was just a taster!"**

**Jane stepped forward and looked at Aro with her angel's face. She reached out to take his hand and ask him a silent question. "May I, Master?"**

**Aro hesitated, his face abruptly expressionless. "If you must, Jane dear."**

**Jane turned to smirk at me evilly, before she turned to Renesmee, a smile on her face. My daughter trembled and turned white, knowing what was coming.**

"**NO!" I roared.**

**Jane beamed and Renesmee's fearful whimpers morphed into full on shrieks of agony.**

**That did it.**

**I tasted bitter fury on my tongue as I launched myself at Jane. Venom filled my mouth, and I spat it in her eyes, before biting down hard on the side of her face, ripping off stony flesh.**

**Jane snarled, enraged and in pain, and fought back, her brother joining her.**

**Through the feral snarls we were emitting, I was vaguely aware that my attack had begun the fight among everyone else. Whilst I fought Jane and Alec, Edward was wrestling with Demetri, who had released Renesmee.**

"**Renesmee, get out of here!" I yelled, dodging Alec who jumped at me, "Go with Harry and Neville and hide!"**

**I didn't see if she escaped or not, because at that moment Jane bit down on my finger, hard, and it broke away from my hand. I shrieked and hissed in pain, and jumped at her throat. Before I could bite her, though, she screamed in agony and crumpled to the floor.**

**I looked around to see who had hit her, and saw Harry pointing his wand at her with trembling hands. Alec, angered by the attack on his sister, pounced at Harry, and I pointed my wand at his back.**

"_**Crucio!"**_** I shouted. He halted mid-leap and fell to the ground, cracking the stone floor, writhing in pain.**

**I crouched down to retrieve my finger from Jane. "It's about time you got a taste of your own medicine," I snarled, and she hissed back at me.**

**I ran to Harry and grabbed him by the shoulder. "You need to get out of here!" I told him. I dragged him to where Renesmee and Neville were hiding behind the stone dais, and reattached my finger.**

"**Mum," whimpered Renesmee, "Mama!"**

**I pulled her into my arms and held her tight, my eyes burning with venom. "It's okay, baby. It's okay. I've got you."**

**Renesmee wept into my shoulder, and I rocked her back and forth for a moment before unwillingly pulling away.**

"**I've got to help the others," I told her.**

"**No!" she protested, "No, Mum, stay!"**

"**I have to, sweetheart." I planted a kiss on her forehead, before turning away to rejoin the fight.**

**Somewhere in the mayhem, Sirius, Mad-Eye, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Tonks and Remus had appeared, and were battling alongside my family. I was surprised to see that Jane, Alec and Demetri were the only members of the Volturi who were fighting, whilst the rest stood back and watched the battle, their expressions ranging from calm indifference to mild fascination.**

**Something about the look on Aro's face – eager and entertained – made me want to attack him, but I made myself focus on the immediate threats.**

**I rushed to help Kingsley, who was duelling two Death Eaters at once, and started firing spells at his opponents. With my assistance, the two Death Eaters were soon unconscious, and Kingsley rushed off to help Rosalie. I became aware of the scent of fresh blood permeating the air, and snapped my head around to see that Mad-Eye had fallen.**

**I leaped at his attacker, who was pointing his wand at Harry and Neville, and I fell with him to the ground. On the way down, his forehead smashed into the side of the dais, and blood started trickling down his face, which was very close to mine. The way I was crouched above him, his wound was right under my nose, and I was overwhelmed by bloodlust. I leaned over him, breathing in deeply, and he might have tried struggling under my weight, but I was beyond noticing. All I could think about at that moment was the sweet smell of hot, wet, delicious blood. When the Death Eater saw my eyes glaze over, he must've realised what was happening, and his pulse picked up in fear. **

**That was when I lost control.**

**I flicked my tongue out onto the wound over his eye, and the taste exploded in my mouth. I licked up the trail of blood, from his chin to his forehead, and he thrashed around, trying to escape. I held his arms down tight, and felt the bones snap under my strong grip. The Death Eater lifted his head to shriek and scream, exposing his throat to me. I bent my head forward, pulling my lips back over my teeth…**

**My teeth had just about grazed his skin when steel-like arms wrapped around me, yanking me back.**

"**No, Bella!" shouted Edward, "Stop! This isn't you! Stop!"**

**I writhed against his arms, kicking and clawing in my desperation to get back to my meal, and I even sunk my teeth into his wrist, but he held me tight, despite his low hiss of pain.**

"**Stop, Bella!" he shouted again, dragging me further away from my prey.**

**The further away from the Death Eater I got, the more my head cleared and the red haze of bloodlust faded, until I was myself again.**

"**Oh God," I gasped, and Edward's restraining arms dropped. I turned and hugged him tightly around the waist. It was a minute before I realised we weren't being attacked, and it had gone relatively quiet.**

"**What's happened?" I asked, looking around. Albus Dumbledore was there, standing at the top of the stone steps, and in the centre of the room stood most of the Death Eaters, bunched together as though tied in place by invisible ropes. The Volturi had ceased to fight, and Aro was communicating silently with Marcus and Caius. Tonks was unconscious, Mad-Eye was still on the ground, but awake, and Remus' face was crumpled in pain, although I didn't see any injuries on him. Only two of our allies were missing. "Where's Sirius? And Harry?"**

**Edward's expression turned grave, and I felt panic build up in my chest. "Who?" I asked, my voice no more than a whisper.**

"**Sirius," he replied in a flat voice.**

**I hugged him tighter in grief. "And Harry?"**

"**He's gone after Bellatrix."**

**I stepped back and looked up at him anxiously. "But he'll do something stupid! He'll get hurt!"**

**I turned and sprinted out of the room, following Harry and Bellatrix's scents. The trails led out of the Department of Mysteries, and I ran to the lifts, which took me up to the Atrium. When it jolted to a stop, I wrenched the door open, destroying a couple of the iron bars.**

**Harry and Bellatrix were shooting spells back and forth. Bellatrix was screaming at the top of her lungs. **_**"Accio prophecy! ACCIO PROPHECY!"**_

**From behind the large golden statue in the centre of the hall came Harry's harsh laughter. "Nothing there!" he shouted, "Nothing to summon! It smashed and nobody heard what it said, tell your boss that!"**

**I flitted to Harry's side behind the fountain so fast that Bellatrix wouldn't be able to see me. "Don't anger her, Harry," I whispered, and he jumped at the sound of my voice.**

"**No!" shrieked Bellatrix, "It isn't true, you're lying! MASTER, I TRIED, I TRIED – DO NOT PUNISH ME…"**

**Harry opened his mouth to shout back, but I clapped my hand over his mouth and froze, staring at the figure that had materialised before us.**

"**Shit," I cursed.**

**The man was even paler than me, with such bright scarlet eyes that, were he less inhuman-looking, I could easily have mistaken him for a newborn vampire. I stopped breathing when the man – Voldemort – pointed his wand past me at Harry.**

"**So, you smashed my prophecy?" Voldemort asked in a soft, but high, cold, voice. Bellatrix fell to her knees, grovelling pitifully. "Be quiet, Bella," he told her, and I frowned at our shared name.**

"**But Master – he is here – he is below…" She was trying to warn him of Albus, I realised.**

"**I have nothing more to say to you, Potter," he murmured, ignoring Bellatrix and myself, "You have irked me too often, for too long. **_**AVADA KEDAVRA!"**_

**The jet of green light advanced on Harry, and I leapt into action, tossing the boy to the ground and jumping protectively in front of him.**

"**Bella? **_**Bella!"**_

**The darkness that had overwhelmed me faded, and I blinked several times. I was lying on the floor, and Harry was leaning over me, looking worried. He exhaled in relief when I responded, and I realised I must have been hit with the killing curse. I was vaguely surprised that my shield hadn't protected me. Perhaps the curse was less like Alec's talent than we'd originally thought.**

**I sat up, just as a streak of green light bounced on the marble floor just inches from us. I sprang to my feet instantly and flung Harry behind the golden fountain, from which I noticed the statues were gone. Looking around, I saw that they had come to life, and the witch was pinning Bellatrix to the ground while the centaur circled Voldemort, who was currently shooting killing curses at Albus Dumbledore.**

"**How long was I out?" I whispered, hovering over Harry to ensure no spells got past me.**

"**A few minutes," he breathed back.**

"**There is nothing worse than death, Dumbledore!" snarled Voldemort, continuing a conversation I had missed.**

"**You are quite wrong," Albus contradicted him calmly, "Indeed, your failure to understand that there are things much worse than death has always been your greatest weakness."**

**Voldemort sent another curse at him, and the golden centaur jumped in front of Albus, taking the blow in his stead. On impact, the green light shattered the centaur into thousands of tiny fragments of stone. Dumbledore conjured a fiery whip from the tip of his wand, and flung it at Voldemort. It wrapped itself around Voldemort's body and engulfed him entirely in flames, but before Albus could win, the fire turned into a serpent. Voldemort vanished for a moment, before reappearing behind Albus, and I watched him raise his wand as the snake struck.**

"_**Look out!"**_** shouted Harry automatically.**

**Albus didn't have enough time to react, and then his pet phoenix, Fawkes, swooped down in front of its master. The curse hit it, and it burst into a huge ball of flame, shaking the entire room.**

**I threw myself over Harry to protect him from falling chunks of ceiling, and felt them hit my back with enough force for it to hurt a little.**

**When we looked up again, Voldemort had gone and all was silent apart from Bellatrix's wailing. I climbed to my feet, helping Harry up.**

"**Stay where you are, Harry!" shouted Dumbledore. His voice was full of fear, which frightened me and made me understand the worst was yet to come. I crouched in front of Harry, my eyes darting around looking for a potential threat, but finding none.**

**Then Harry yelled in pain and collapsed to the floor, his legs crumpling beneath him. He writhed and thrashed around, and I could only compare the display to the vampire transformation. Then he spoke, and his voice was high and cold.**

"_**Kill me now, Dumbledore,"**_** he hissed, even as he screamed in agony, **_**"If death is nothing, Dumbledore, kill the boy…"**_

**From the look on Harry's face, he wanted Albus to do as Voldemort said, but the old wizard only watched, his face agonised.**

**Then Voldemort was standing in front of Bellatrix, and they disappeared. At the same moment, Ministry workers flooded into the Atrium, arriving for their work days.**

**I dropped to my knees beside Harry, who was no longer thrashing around but now lay shivering violently, and I smoothed his hair back.**

"**Are you alright, Harry?" asked a voice from behind me, and I automatically acted defensively, jumping to my feet in a fraction of a second and spinning around, letting out a low hiss. I relaxed when I saw it was only Albus, who was looking down at Harry in concern.**

"**Y-yes," stuttered Harry, but he was trembling so badly that he couldn't lift himself up properly.**

**Dumbledore leaned forward to pull Harry to his feet, but I stopped him. "Let me." I scooped Harry up in my arms effortlessly and placed him on his feet. He was still shaking, so I put my arm around his back to support him.**

**Albus turned to me. "Thankyou for all your help, Bella. Are you okay?"**

"**I'm fine," I replied truthfully, "But Edward…Renesmee…"**

"**Your husband and daughter are both safe, as are the rest of your family. Your father is in the Department of Mysteries with them now."**

"**Carlisle? How did he know..?"**

"**Severus contacted him as soon as he realised you had left Hogwarts."**

"**Remind me to send Severus a card or something," I muttered, distracted. Albus cracked a tiny, worn-out smile.**

**A man I recognised from photographs in the Daily Prophet as Cornelius fudge, the Minster for Magic, approached us, looking completely baffled. "Melrin's beard!" he was mumbling, "Here – **_**here!**_** – In the Ministry of Magic! – great heavens above – it doesn't seem possible – my word – how can this be..?"**

"**If you proceed downstairs into the Department of Mysteries, Cornelius, you will find several escaped Death Eaters contained in the Death Chamber, bound by an Anti-Disapparation Jinx and awaiting your decision as to what to do with them," said Albus calmly.**

**Mr Fudge, only now noticing us, jumped in fright and almost fell over. "Dumbledore!" he gasped, sounding amazed. "What happened?"**

"**We can discuss that after I have sent Harry back to Hogwarts," he replied, still calm.**

"**Harry…**_**Harry Potter?"**_** Mr Fudge spun around and stared at Harry, and I tightened my hold on the boy ever so slightly. "He – here? And who's the girl?" He looked at me closely, before jumping back in horror, "She's a vampire! Why – what's all this about?"**

"**I shall explain everything when Harry is back at school," repeated Dumbledore firmly. He strolled over to where the golden statue of the now decapitated wizard's head lay, and tapped it with his wand. **_**"Portus."**_** He turned back to us. "Take this Portkey, Harry," he told him.**

**I led Harry forward, still supporting his trembling weight, and stopped in front of the golden statue head. Before I let him go, I threw my arms around him and hugged him with as much strength I could use without hurting him.**

"**Thankyou for helping Renesmee," I murmured sincerely, "You are a great person, Harry."**

**Harry nodded numbly, his face blank, as he leaned down to touch the Portkey.**

"**One…" muttered Albus, "…two…three…"**

**Then Harry was gone.**


	23. 26 Comfort

**Disclaimer:**** I don't own Harry Potter or Twilight. **

**List of POVs:**

**Bella – BPOV**

**Edward – EPOV**

**Renesmee – NPOV**

**Jacob – JPOV**

**Alice – APOV**

**Jasper – JasPOV**

**Emmet – EmPOV**

**Rosalie – RPOV**

**Harry – HPOV**

**Ron – RonPOV**

**Hermione – HerPOV**

**So sorry for the wait!!! Thanks for sticking around through my story, there are only two chapters left, including this one. I am working on the first few chapters of a sequel. In the meantime, keep reviewing and enjoy!!**

**26 Comfort**

**BPOV**

Cornelius Fudge now turned to Albus. "Now, what exactly is going on? How did you get here? How did _he?_ Why is there a vampiress in the Ministry of Magic? You have a lot of explaining to do, Dumbledore!"

"I will give you half an hour of my time tonight, Minister," replied Albus, "but first… You will give the order to remove Dolores Umbridge from Hogwarts and you will tell your Aurors to stop searching for my Care of Magical Creatures teacher so that he can return to work."

Mr Fudge turned an angry red. "I – yes, very well."

Albus nodded pleasantly.

"Bella!"

I turned at the sound of the one voice I knew better than any other in the world. Edward ran up to me, and I took a few steps forward to throw myself into his arms. He held me tightly for a moment before pulling me into a deep kiss.

"Bella…" he murmured between kisses, "…are…you okay? What…happened?...Where's Harry?"

"Albus sent him back to Hogwarts," I replied, "Voldemort was here…don't worry, no one was hurt!" I added quickly at his horrified look, "He's gone now. We have Renesmee back with us; it's all over."

Edward scowled. "No, not all of it. Aro wishes to speak with us."

My panic must've shown on my face, as he smoothed the crease between my eyes with his thumb. "It's okay, love. We have done nothing wrong."

I nodded, and allowed him to guide me back to the Department of Mysteries. Our entire family, including Carlisle and Esme, plus the Volturi were waiting there for us. I went straight to Renesmee's side and wrapped a protective arm around her shoulders, glaring at Jane.

Aro looked up and beamed. "Ah, Bella! What a delight to have the whole family with us!"

Although he sounded like he meant it, I didn't relax. You could never tell if cheerfulness was a good thing with Aro.

"No need to look so worried, my dear Cullens," exclaimed Aro brightly, "I merely wish to discuss some matters with you! We have no intention of hurting your family."

"He's telling the truth," said Edward.

Aro nodded at my husband. "There you have it. Your young mind-reader assures you I speak truthfully."

Carlisle nodded. "Very well. What would you like to discuss, friend?"

The Volturi leader's face turned solemn and almost apologetic. "It seems we made a mistake in allying ourselves with these humans. We saw them as a threat to us, and acted in the only way we saw fit to protect our species. Surely you can understand our position, old friend? If your dear ones were threatened as ours were, what would you do? Nevertheless, we now realise this is not our battle to involve ourselves in, as it seems you have done." He frowned in disapproval. "We shall leave you in peace now. You are free to continue helping your allies, but if we hear of you breaking the rules in the process we will offer no more chances. Let that be a warning. We have no wish to destroy you, but if need be we will not hesitate."

Carlisle frowned and nodded stiffly. "You have warned us. I think it best if you leave now, and please try not to hunt until you've left the area. The magical community are not unaware of our kind, as I'm sure you know, and were anyone to be hurt suspicion would naturally fall on us."

"Of course! Goodbye, Cullens. Until the next time we see each other."

Aro, Marcus and Caius turned with a swish of their dark robes, and the Volturi followed them until they were gone.

As soon as they were out of our hearing range, Edward and I threw ourselves on Renesmee and held her so tight that she squirmed uncomfortably under our arms. I sobbed into her auburn hair in relief that we had her back with us, safe and unhurt.

"Darling girl!" I murmured in her ear, "My little darling girl!"

Renesmee was crying, and Edward bent down to kiss her tears away.

"Hush, my beauty," he whispered, but his own voice was strained with the tears neither of us could shed, "Everything's okay now."

"I know that," sobbed Renesmee, burying her face deeper into my shirt, and I stroked her hair.

Alice cleared her throat, and we leaned back, though didn't let go of Renesmee, to look at her.

"We need to leave so that Carlisle can treat the others," she told us.

Edward and I nodded, and motioned for the rest of our family to go first. Before Alice turned to leave, she stood on tiptoe to kiss Renesmee's forehead, and Esme paused to smooth her hair. The three of us followed after the others, making sure Renesmee's body stayed in contact with ours the whole time.

As we approached the Atrium, we heard Albus and Mr Fudge still in conversation.

"And as for the other matter; why is there a vampire in the Ministry of Magic, Dumbledore? I - where did she go?"

I walked up to them and came to a halt in front of the Minister for Magic. "I am right here, sir."

Mr Fudge jumped, startled, and his gaze shifted to the rest of my family behind me. "A whole clan!" he exclaimed, "Dumbledore, what is the meaning of this?"

Albus's eyes sparkled in amusement. "Cornelius, please allow me to introduce the Cullen family. They are vampires, you are correct, but they are a very unique coven for their species. My friend, Carlisle Cullen here, has taught his family to feast only on the blood of animals. They are no danger to humans. I asked them to enrol in Hogwarts this year to help in our fight against Lord Voldemort."

Mr Fudge winced at the Dark wizard's name, but he quickly replaced it with anger. "You allowed vampires into Hogwarts without Minstry authority! Really, Dumbledore!"

"At least he did _something!"_ interrupted Alice angrily, "Whereas your people sat on their asses ignoring all his warnings!"

"Alice!" Esme admonished, "Watch your language!"

Mr Fudge turned bright red. "I…well…" he spluttered.

Carlisle turned to Albus, rather than listen to the other man babble incoherently. "We need to return to the castle so I may look after our injured friends," he said calmly.

"Of course," replied Albus, "I have already organised a Portkey to take you all there." He gestured to a chunk of stone ceiling lying on the floor. "You may go ahead, and I will return shortly. Thankyou for all your help."

We nodded before approaching the Portkey and placing a finger each on it. Three seconds later, we were spinning through the air in a whirl of colour, until our feet made contact with solid ground. It took us less than a fraction of a second to realise we were in the hospital wing. Five of the beds were occupied already. Luna, Ron and Hermione were all unconscious and breathing deeply, while Neville and Ginny were both conscious. Only Harry was absent. Neville and Ginny looked up when we appeared, and began firing questions at us.

"What happened? Where's Harry? Is he okay? Are you all okay? Are the others going to be alright? What..?"

Carlisle held up his hand for silence, and they snapped their mouths shut at the same time. It looked rather funny, now that I was able to laugh about that sort of thing, and I let out a giggle.

"Everything's okay, you don't need to worry about a thing," said Carlisle, approaching Ginny, "How's your ankle?"

Edward, Renesmee and I left Carlisle to look after his patients, and the others, except for Esme, followed. Alice and Jasper turned left at the end of the corridor, and Emmett and Rosalie took a flight of stairs upwards. My little family headed for outside, wanting a private reunion.

We stopped by the lake and Renesmee laid down on the grass, wiping tears from her eyes in frustration. Edward and I curled up on either side of her, and she rolled onto her side to snuggle into her father's chest, while I stroked her long copper hair gently.

Early morning rays of sunlight broke through the trees of the forest, dappling the ground where we lay, but we made no move to get out of the way. Now that Mr Fudge knew about us, the secret was bound to come out sometime in the near future. It was unlikely that any students would be up this early anyway.

It was a silent reunion, but I figured that was the best kind. We didn't have to talk, just so long as each of us knew the others were _there. _We didn't speak to acknowledge Jacob's presence when he joined us, taking a seat at Nessie's feet. We didn't want to break the peace with a sound.

In the silence, we heard faint voices drift from a tower window. Someone was shouting, and smashing things. With a pang of sadness, I recognised the raised voice as Harry's. The voices were coming from Albus's office.

"My greatest strength, is it?" Harry was saying, his voice hoarse with grief, "You haven't got a clue…you don't know…"

"What don't I know?" asked Albus's voice calmly.

There was a pause before Harry spoke again. "I don't want to talk about how I feel, all right?"

I realised they must be talking about Sirius. Harry's was such a typical human response.

"Harry, suffering like this proves you are still a man! This pain is part of being human…"he didn't get to finish before Harry was shouting.

"THEN I DON'T WANT TO BE HUMAN!"he yelled, followed by a crash. I shut my eyes tightly against his voice, but could do nothing to block it out. "I DON'T CARE!" Another crash. "I'VE HAD ENOUGH, I'VE SEEN ENOUGH, I WANT OUT, I WANT IT TO END, I DON'T CARE ANYMORE!"

The next crash was even louder than the rest, and I guessed Harry was throwing things. When Albus spoke again, I could barely hear him. "You do care. You care so much you feel as though you'll bleed to death with the pain of it."

"I DON'T!" Harry's roar might have been deafening to human ears, and listening to him, my dead heart broke.

Albus's calm voice floated to us, a whisper on the breeze. "Oh, yes, you do. You have now lost your mother, your father, and the closest thing to a parent you have ever known. Of course you care."

"YOU DON'T KNOW HOW I FEEL!" shouted Harry. As I curled up on myself, my hands over my ears and face pressed into Renesmee's hair, I suddenly wondered if, maybe, he did.

"Bella," murmured Edward, looking over Renesmee's shoulder at me. In a second, he was kneeling by me, and pulling me up. He looked at Jacob briefly. "Look after Nessie. Don't let _anything _happen to her," he growled the last part, his eyes narrowing, before he put an arm around my waist and led me back into the castle.

We returned to the Gryffindor common room, where there seemed to have been a party the night before. The house-elves had cleaned up, but we could smell the lingering scent of Butterbeer in the air. The fifth-years must've been celebrating the end of exams.

Edward pulled me gently to a couch, and I sat beside him. He shook his head and gathered me into his lap, stroking circles on my back. I tucked my head under his chin and breathed in his sweet scent.

"What's on your mind, love?" he murmured in my ear, tightening his hold on me.

I let go of my shield and thought of Harry shouting at Albus, throwing things, broken with sorrow.

Edward kissed the top of my head. "There's nothing we can do about it," he told me, but he sounded pained, "He needs to endure the pain, and Albus is helping him."

"But it was our fault," I responded, my usually bell-like voice cracking as I spoke, "We could've stopped him, but we didn't. We knew it was a trap for him. We _wanted_ him to come with us, and if we hadn't…" I broke off, sobbing into Edward's shirt.

Edward held me, rocking me gently back and forth in his arms, until my tearless weeping subsided. "Do you know the worst part?" I whispered.

"No," he replied softly, "Tell me."

"The worst part is that I don't regret it," I admitted, "If Sirius had to die…if Harry had to go through this…so we could save Renesmee again, I would let it happen."

"Oh, Bella," said Edward, his voice strained, "I know what you mean. I feel the same way. Perhaps we just need to be grateful that Sirius died for Harry, for us. It does nothing to be sorry, or feel guilty. It only causes more pain."

"I _am_ grateful," I told him, "Really, you have no idea how grateful I am. But it still hurts."

Edward was quiet for a second. "You're worried about Harry, aren't you?"

"Of course," I replied, "He's like a brother to me, or a son. He's too young to deal with this."

"I know. He's a good person. He shouldn't have to go through the pain he's going through. Trust me, I know." I looked up and saw his eyes were burning. "You know that I couldn't live with thinking you were dead. But at least he's handling Sirius's death better than I did with, so I thought, yours."

Edward's words made me worry. "You don't think he'll do anything stupid, do you?" I asked anxiously.

He shook his head. "No. He's strong. We'll help him make it through this."

He kissed away the worried line between my eyes, and continued trailing light pecks down my nose until he met my lips. I kissed him back passionately, holding onto the collar of his shirt tightly, while he hugged me close to him.

We were interrupted after about ten minutes by a couple of early-risers entering the common room and stopping when they saw us. Edward pulled away and stroked my cheek softly, before nudging me off his lap and standing up. "We should see how the others are doing," he muttered, and we left Gryffindor tower to head back down to the hospital wing. Ginny and Neville were sitting in the chairs between Hermione and Ron's beds, both looking much better, and Luna was now conscious.

Carlisle was perched on the end of an empty bed, his arm around Esme's shoulders, who was looking down while she fidgeted anxiously. They both looked up when Edward and I entered, and Esme was in front of us in an instant.

"Oh, thank goodness the two of you are safe!" she cried, sweeping us both into her arms, "As soon as Severus told us where you'd gone I was so worried! You could have been hurt! Promise me you'll never do anything like that without telling us again!"

I ducked my head, ashamed, while she held me by the shoulders firmly, looking as if she'd be crying had she any tears to shed. "Yes, Mum, I promise."

Esme's face relaxed into a smile and she hugged me again. Meanwhile, Edward was asking Carlisle how his patients were doing.

"We fixed Ginny's ankle and Neville's nose easily enough, though we aren't sure about the others. Ron may have bad scarring, but he should be okay, and we're waiting for Hermione to wake up," Carlisle clapped Edward on the shoulder, "How are you, son?"

Edward gave him a smile. "We're both fine. Just relieved that we have Renesmee back with us. We apologise for worrying the two of you."

"Just tell us next time," said Carlisle, pulling me into a hug, "But hopefully, there won't be a situation where you need to."

"If I'm involved, there probably will," I muttered bitterly, "We all know I have the worst luck in the world."

Carlisle chuckled, but didn't disagree, which made me feel a little indignant. "I'm going to go for a walk," I said.

Edward took my hand. "Do you want me to come with you?" he asked.

I shook my head. "No, I'll be alright. I love you," I added, and left the hospital wing.

I walked slowly until I picked up Harry's scent half-an-hour later. It was fresh, no more than a few minutes old, and I followed it. The trail led to the corridor outside of the Room of Requirement, and I hesitated at the door. He would, of course, want to be alone, but I had to talk to him after overhearing his conversation with Albus.

I entered the room, shutting the door behind me quietly. The Room of Requirement was in the form of the DA room, and Harry was curled up in the corner, his head in his arms. His shoulders were still, and he was silent, so he couldn't have been crying, but the sight of him sitting on the cold floor was heart-breaking.

I walked over to him, my feet making no noise on the marble surface, and sat beside him. He looked up when he noticed my presence and jumped slightly.

"Oh, Harry!" I cried, putting my arm around his shoulders, "I am so, so sorry."

"Don't," Harry moaned, "You have no idea how I feel right now."

I was quiet for a second. "I heard you shouting at Professor Dumbledore," I told him.

He turned and glared at me, his emerald eyes fierce. "You were listening?"

"I didn't want to. I was trying not to listen, but I heard you."

Harry rested his head on his knees and looked in the opposite direction. My arm around him tightened automatically, and I laid my head on his shoulder.

"I heard you say that you didn't want to be human, if it meant not feeling this pain," I murmured, "You know that could be changed."

He pulled away and stared at me in disbelief, trying to find any trace of a joke in my face. My expression remained serious, and he found none. "Would that make it stop hurting?"

I shrugged. "Human memories fade, and for the first few years you wouldn't care, anyway." At his uncertain expression, I shook my head. "But you don't really want that. A decade or so down the track, you'd regret not remembering him. Knowing that you'd forgotten everything about him, how much you loved him…that would hurt worse than anything you're going through right now. I wouldn't do that to you."

Harry suddenly looked exhausted, and he collapsed against me, leaning all his weight against my side. "What else did you hear?" he asked.

"I heard Albus describing how much you must hurt. I believe his exact words were, 'you care so much you feel as though you will bleed to death with the pain of it.' And believe me, I know exactly what that feels like." Harry made a sceptical sound. "I know," I repeated, "When you love someone so much, and you realise you're never going to see them again…"

Harry choked and buried his face in his hands. "How do you know this?"

"Did I ever tell you that Edward left me once?" Harry shook his head. "It was a couple of days after my eighteenth birthday," I told him, "He convinced me that he didn't love me, and then he left. I was completely heartbroken. I spent months believing him, and I pretty much became a zombie. Professor Dumbledore was wrong, wasn't he? You don't _feel_ as though you'll bleed to death with the pain; you _want_ to."

Harry moved his face from his hands to my shoulder, and sobbed. I wrapped both my arms around him and held him tight while he let it all out. I remembered something else Albus had said. _"You have now lost your mother, your father, and the closest thing to a parent you have ever known."_

"Harry," I said quietly, "I just want you to know that my family and I will always be there for you. I will be whatever you need. A best friend, a big sister…a mother," I added this last part quietly, but he heard. Before he could speak, I continued. "I don't want to replace your parents, or Sirius for that matter. But I already think of you as something of a son, and you should know that the offer's there if you need it." Harry was quiet as he absorbed my words, and I kissed the top of his head gently.

I stayed with him all day, and it was almost dusk when he got up and shook the stiffness from his legs.

"Are you hungry?" I asked, pulling myself up easily.

He shrugged. "I want to check on Ron and Hermione first," he told me.

"Harry," I scolded gently, "You have to eat. I know you don't feel like it, but you have to."

He frowned and opened his mouth to protest, but I silenced him with a stern look. "I'll drag you to the Great Hall if I must," I threatened, and his shoulders slumped in defeat.

He didn't speak the entire way to the Great Hall, and I shadowed him just as quietly. He sat down at the far end of the Gryffindor table, away from his classmates, and mumbled, "Happy now?"

He probably didn't mean for me to hear him, but of course I did. "Not until you eat something." He picked up a chicken drumstick and nibbled on the end. I smiled genuinely. "That's better." I didn't move until he finished the whole leg, and then I reached out to give him a hug. He didn't respond to my embrace, so I gave a gentle squeeze and left him in search for Edward.

The next day, my family and I were summoned to Albus's office. I noticed the human students watching me nervously when I passed them on my way. Some of them shrank away from me, their heartbeats picking up a fast tempo, and I realised they were afraid of me. Had our secret somehow gotten out and spread through the school already?

Albus knew the reason, of course.

"I have spoken to Cornelius Fudge about your situation, and he has, alas somewhat reluctantly, agreed to allow you to stay at Hogwarts whenever you wish," he told us, "He understands that you are not a threat to any of my students. As for the matter of keeping your true identities a secret through the school…"

Edward sighed. "The truth was bound to come out sooner or later. I am sure the parents are not going to be happy to have us stay amongst their children."

"Nonsense!" exclaimed Albus, "Once they hear about your part in the…ahem…_events at the Ministry of Magic, I am sure they will come around."_

_Rosalie scoffed in irritation. "Of course they will. And they'll bring their torches and crosses with them, not that it will do much."_

"_Oh, stop being such a pessimist, Rose!" said Alice brightly, "I'm looking forward to being able to act ourselves around humans for once."_

"_How did everyone even find out, may I ask?" wondered Carlisle._

_Edward rolled his eyes. "Lucius Malfoy told Draco just before their attack on the Ministry. Now that he's been arrested, Draco wanted his revenge. He started telling everyone and it spread around the school within hours."_

_I raised my eyebrows, impressed. "Never underestimate the power of gossip."_

"_So what do we do now?" asked Emmett, unbothered by our latest potential problem._

_Albus raised his eyebrows. "You are, of course, welcome to return to Hogwarts next year. I believe you have made some strong friends in Mr Potter, Miss Granger and the Weasleys."_

_Edward and I nodded in agreement. "They are wonderful kids," I told him, smiling._

"_We'll think about it over the summer, and get back to you," replied Carlisle._

_Albus beamed. "The invitation's there. Your family is always welcome at my school. Please think it over."_

_We all nodded, but I knew that we probably wouldn't need to think much. I didn't need to be my favourite sister to know that it would be hard for us to stay away._


End file.
